FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM
THE WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Contact
Lyn Peters, Director of Communications
PH (360) 349-8501 or CommunicationDir@dfi.wa.gov

01/14/2021
Businesses can begin preparing to apply now; program will open to all lenders next week; information sessions for businesses offered by Washington Small Business Development Center

En Español

Update: The Small Business Administration has re-opened the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan portal to all participating PPP lenders.

Olympia – The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) and Department of Commerce are reminding Washington’s small businesses, eligible nonprofits and lenders the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been funded with $284 billion for a new round of forgivable loans. The loan program is administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The U.S. Small Business Administration will re-open the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan portal to PPP-eligible lenders with $1 billion or less in assets for First and Second Draw applications on Friday, January 15, 2021 at 9 am ET.  The portal will fully open on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 to all participating PPP lenders to submit First and Second Draw loan applications to SBA.

The first round of the PPP, which ran from March to August 2020, helped 5.2 million small businesses nationwide keep 51 million American workers employed. More than 107,000 Washington state businesses received PPP loans.

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of our country, of Washington State,” DFI Director Charlie Clark said. “It’s so important they get the assistance they need to continue beyond this pandemic. Washington’s financial institutions stepped up in a big way during the first PPP allocations, and we know they will again.”

“These federal loans have been crucial for helping small businesses and our overall economy,” Commerce Director Lisa Brown said. “Small businesses can take steps now to get ready to apply, starting with finding a participating lender and finding out what kind of documentation they need to prepare.”

The SBA is currently only accepting loan applications from participating community financial institutions (CFIs). Businesses can find a participating CFI at Lender Match. The program will open to all lenders next Tuesday.

The Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC), funded by the SBA and Washington State University, is providing virtual webinars and technical assistance on the loans:

Additional SBA resources for businesses