Biden visits the DC hardware store that obtained a PPP loan

Biden visits the DC hardware store that obtained a PPP loan

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President bidenJoe BidenCNN: Bidens’ dogs removed from the White House Federal judge considers’ QAnon shaman ‘too dangerous to be released from prison Pelosi says the Capitol riot was one of the most difficult times of his career. MOST on Tuesday he visited a neighborhood hardware store in Washington, DC, which received a small business relief loan against the coronavirus to highlight his government’s efforts to prioritize assistance to the smallest companies affected by the pandemic.

Biden visited WS Jenks & Son, located in northeastern DC, which the White House claims to have received a paycheck protection program (PPP) loan in the past two weeks, as the Biden administration restricted applicants to companies with fewer than 20 employees.

The Treasury Department’s loan program was established by the bipartisan CARES Act last year. The program was popular, but withstood criticism in 2020, when data showed that much of the financing in the first round of loans went to large companies, such as large national networks.

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

Biden asked the owners what affected them most strongly when it came to the pandemic. Mike Siegel said the biggest challenge was deciding what to do with his employees, noting that the store sent employees at risk home when the virus spread. Siegel said that the first wave of PPP loans last year helped the hardware store continue to pay its employees who stayed at home.

Biden said his government changed the PPP to ensure that aid was for small businesses, noting that some 400,000 closed during the pandemic. He blamed the Trump administration for not ensuring that the money went to small businesses.

“We found that a lot of that was for big companies that shouldn’t be qualified,” he said.

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

The Biden administration has also made other changes to the program, such as changing its loan calculation formula for self-employed workers and lifting restrictions for those who have not paid student loan debt or had previous convictions for the crime of non-fraud, in order to target assistance. for smaller companies and those that are owned by minorities.

Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters on Tuesday that the Biden government has seen a “significant increase” in the number of loans granted to smaller companies, start-up participants and women – and minorities – since the changes.

Specifically, Ramamurti said that the government approved more than 300,000 loans to companies with fewer than five employees, representing an increase of 15, and almost 200,000 loans to PPP borrowers for the first time, representing an increase of 25 percent, during the period of two weeks.

Ramamurti said there was also a 14% increase in loans to companies owned by women, a 20% increase in loans to companies belonging to minorities and a 12% increase in loans to companies in rural areas.

Tuesday’s brief visit comes at a time when the House is about to approve Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan on Wednesday after it passed the Senate. The project provides for an additional $ 7.25 billion for the PPP, $ 28 billion in financing for a new restaurant concession program, as well as other provisions to help companies affected by the pandemic.

—Updated at 1:50 pm

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