WASHINGTON—NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger has written to the Small Business Administration (SBA) following the announcement that there will be a dedicated window for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications from small lenders, urging that all credit unions be included in the application window.
“From the outset, credit unions have provided PPP loans to the smallest and hardest hit businesses. Moreover, smaller lenders provided the most PPP loans during the initial rounds of funding,” wrote Berger. “NAFCU members greatly appreciated the SBA’s dedicated window for smaller lenders with less than $1 billion in assets last year and look forward to another opportunity to access the portal on a level playing field with other, similar institutions.”
Berger further called on the SBA and the Treasury to provide additional relevant information regarding the dedicated window immediately.
“This dedicated window is critical for credit unions to continue to provide relief to the communities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” added Berger.
The program reopened Monday for community financial institutions – including minority depository institutions and community development financial institutions – to submit applications for first-draw PPP loans.