Fewer than 500 R.I. businesses secured PPP loans in July, $128B in funds left

PROVIDENCE – With just over a week until the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program ends, interest among Rhode Island small business has dwindled.

Fewer than 500 Rhode Island small businesses received forgivable loans during the entire month of July, according to an update published Tuesday. By comparison, 6,800 state businesses were approved for $550 million in the first five days of the second-round of program funding in May.

As of July 31, 17,642 state businesses had been approved for a total of $1.88 billion in payroll relief funding. Nationally, the program has funded $521.4 billion across 5.1 million loans – nearly identical to funding levels and loans approved at the end of June.

About $128 billion in funding is still available, with the deadline to apply fast-approaching on Aug. 8. The program was originally set to expire on June 30, but was extended due to the amount of money still up for grabs.

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Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at LAvin@PBN.com.