SBA Expands EIDL Program, Increases Lending Cap to $2M

WASHINGTON, D.C. – To help businesses being impacted by the delta variant of the coronavirus, the Small Business Administration has expanded the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

New applications from small businesses will be accepted immediately. Information about the application process, which has been updated and simplified from the initial EIDL round, is available HERE. The deadline is Dec. 31. 

Funds can be used for “any normal operating expenses and working capital, including payroll, purchasing equipment and paying debt.” Among the changes is the addition of prepaying commercial debt and payments on federal business debt to the list of approved uses.

“The SBA’s COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan program offers a lifeline to millions of small businesses who are still being impacted by the pandemic,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman in a statement. “Our mission-driven SBA team has been working around the clock to make the loan review process as user-friendly as possible to ensure every entrepreneur who needs help can get the capital they need to reopen, recover and rebuild.”

Key changes to the EIDL program include increasing the loan program cap to $2 million – up from $500,000 – and the implementation of a deferral period that ensures repayment doesn’t begin until two years after loan origination.

Also new is a 30-day window to ensure that Main Street businesses have access to funds. In the window, the SBA will approve and disburse loans of $500,000 or less, with larger loans beginning 30 days after lending starts.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.