Biden visits DC hardware store that received PPP loan

Biden visits DC hardware store that received PPP loan

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President BidenJoe Biden CNN: Bidens’ dogs removed from the White House federal judge rule that QAnon shaman is too dangerous to be released from prison. visited an area hardware store in Washington, DC on Tuesday that received a small business coronavirus loan to highlight its government’s efforts to give priority to the smallest companies affected by the pandemic.

Biden has visited WS Jenks & Son, located in Northeast DC, which according to the White House has received a loan for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in the past two weeks, as the administration of Biden has limited applicants to businesses with fewer as 20 employees.

The loan program for the treasury department was drawn up last year by the dual CARES law. The program was popular, but withstood criticism in 2020 when data showed that much of the financing in the first round went to loans to large corporations such as large national chains.

Biden met the co-owners of the hardware store, Mike and Jerry Siegel, and the owner of a local producer, Little Wild Things Farm, next to the hardware store. The producer has also received a loan for the past two weeks.

Biden asked the owners what had hit them hardest in the wake of the pandemic. Mike Siegel said the biggest challenge was deciding what to do with their staff, noting that the store put endangered employees home when the virus struck. Siegel said the first wave of PPP loans last year helped the hardware store continue to pay its employees who stayed at home.

Biden said his administration changed the PPP to ensure aid goes to small businesses, pointing out that about 400,000 were shut down during the pandemic. He blamed the Trump administration for not making sure the money went to small businesses.

“We found out that a lot of it went to big companies that weren’t supposed to qualify,” he said.

The Biden administration introduced a 14-day period from February 24 to March 9 during which only businesses with less than 20 employees could apply for assistance through the popular lending program. The special period ends Tuesday, and businesses seeking PPP loans must apply before the March 31 deadline.

The Biden administration has also made other changes to the program, such as changing the formula for calculating loans for the self-employed and removing the restrictions for those who have failed or been found guilty of student loans. offenses that are not fraudulent. to the smallest businesses and those owned by minorities.

Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters later Tuesday that the government in Biden saw a “significant increase” in the number of loans to the smallest business, first-time participants, and women and minorities. has. since the changes businesses own.

Ramamurti specifically said that the government has approved more than 300,000 loans to businesses with less than five employees, representing an increase of 15, and nearly 200,000 loans to first-time PPP lenders, an increase of 25 percent represented, during the period of two weeks.

Ramamurti said there was also a 14 per cent increase in loans to businesses in women, a 20 per cent increase in loans to minority businesses and a 12 per cent increase in loans to businesses in rural areas.

Tuesday’s brief visit comes as the House plans to pass Biden’s $ 1.9 billion coronavirus relief plan on Wednesday after it was passed by the Senate. The bill provides an additional $ 7.25 billion for the PPP, $ 28 billion for a new restaurant allocation program, as well as other provisions to help businesses affected by the pandemic.

—Updated at 1:50 p.m.

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