New SBA Loans Available, But Some Colorado Small Businesses Aren't Holding Their Breath

DENVER (CBS4) - The owner of Crafted Tees Custom Apparel in Denver isn't putting all his faith in the new round of federal SBA loans.

"I just think right now no one can really count on it at this point. I know a couple of the businesses have gone out of business, which is very unfortunate," Tyler Kain told CBS4's Dominic Garcia.

Kain missed out on the first round of Paycheck Protection Program loans several weeks ago and saw tens of millions of dollars go to bigger corporations like Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. The chain has since returned the money, but that hasn't done much for small business owners like Kain.

"I definitely think they just rushed into it and had they just taken an extra week to really dial it in and really help the small businesses, maybe we wouldn't even be having this follow-up interview," Kain said.

President Donald Trump signed a bill Friday that authorizes an additional $310 billion in funds for the program, which offers forgivable, 1% interest loans for companies with a maximum of 500 employees. That's on top of the $350 billion that was loaned out in the first round of the program in a mere two weeks. The loans are forgivable in full if the companies use 75% of the federally backed money on paying and retaining their employees.

The Paycheck Protection Program, the U.S. government's coronavirus relief fund for small businesses, resumed billions of dollars in low-interest lending on Monday, but with the nation's banks reporting some bumps along the way.

Rob Nichols, president of the American Banker Association, tweeted Monday afternoon that banks were having trouble accessing the U.S. Small Business Administration's approval portal for the loan program. That, he said, would slow the ability of banks to dispense the small business aid.

A spokesperson for the SBA told CBS MoneyWatch there was no problem with its website or its approval process. She said the SBA had informed banks Sunday night that it would limit the number of applications they can submit per hour, in order to allow all banks access to the program.

In the meantime, Kain has pivoted, and switched to making face masks for local companies. He has also been printing shirts that say "Here for Good" with all the proceeds going towards struggling businesses. As for the PPP loan, he's not holding his breath.

"If I get it, it will be a nice little add-on to kind of help run things, but for the most part I'm not relying on it."