One in five small businesses in Indiana will have to permanently close by November without another round of federal loans, according to a small business advocacy group. The organization is urging Congress to pass additional Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan funding.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) estimates more than 80 percent of small businesses that received a PPP loan have used all the money already in the most recent survey taken.
The PPP program was designed to keep businesses from permanently shutting their doors due to COVID-19 by issuing forgivable loans to help keep employees on payroll and pay rent.
NFIB Indiana state director Barbara Quandt said small businesses need another round of PPP loans to continue to survive the economic impacts of the pandemic.
"We'd like to see small businesses become a real priority because they're the ones that create the majority of the net new jobs; they're the job creators and if they're gone, then where's the stimulus to help get out of this recession?" said Quandt. "We traditionally lead the economy out of a recession because they get back to work. Small business owners figure it out and they pivot do what they can, of course, what they're going through it's never been experienced before."
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Quandt said lessons learned from the first round of loans show there needs to be more effort to get the forgivable loans to the mom and pop stores.
“It needs to be something that's targeted for the smallest small family businesses that are not going to make it without it,” said Quandt.
She said the organization is advocating for other measures including businesses being protected from COVID-19 liability lawsuits and regulatory protections.
Contact reporter Samantha at shorton@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @SamHorton5.
