SBA: 16,000 R.I. businesses approved for PPP loans as demand continues to slow

PROVIDENCE – Less than 200 additional Rhode Island small businesses have secured federal payroll relief loans in the last week as demand for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program slows to a crawl.

The latest update from the SBA, reflecting loans approved through May 23, shows roughly 16,000 Rhode Island business applicants have been approved for $1.8 billion across the two rounds of loan funding. The dollars allocated to Rhode Island were roughly unchanged from the prior week update and the number of total business recipients rose by less than 200.

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Nationally, too, the program’s once-rapid growth has ground to a halt. As of May 23, the program has approved 4.4 billion loans totaling $511 billion – roughly 90,000 more loans than the week prior – with $147 billion of the total $660 billion allotment still available.

The SBA recently issued interim final rules clarifying rules around loan forgiveness – a major source of concern for business applicants – with Congress to consider multiple bills that would address additional sticking points such as extending the eight-week loan forgiveness period.

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The average loan size continues to drop, now at $116,000 as smaller-size companies become the latest to benefit from the program. More loans are also being processed through smaller banks and community development financial institutions as a result of a specific carve out in the second round of funding. Lenders with less than $1 billion in assets and non-banks had processed $93 billion across nearly 1.1 million loans as of May 23.

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