Category Archives: COVID-19

Paycheck Protection Program: Is it Helping Small Businesses?

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The title of this post is a touch misleading. Of course the Paycheck Protection Program is helping small businesses. But is it helping the right ones, and is it helping enough of them? Our post last week on the Paycheck Protection Program elicited a lot of feedback. From this feedback and what we’ve heard anecdotally, it’s been tough for many small businesses to get these loans.

But there may be ways for Congress, the SBA, and lenders to make this program–or any similar program that Congress is considering–to help out small businesses more equitably. Below are some questions that policy makers should consider when modifying the Paycheck Protection Program or crafting a similar program in the future.

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SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program: What’s Going On with Affiliation?

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Since the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program went into effect last Friday, there has been considerable confusion about eligibility and, in particular, what affiliation rules apply to program applicants. The affiliation rules are important for helping companies determine if they can seek out these important loans.

In this post, we’ll let you know which affiliation rules apply to the program’s applicants and explain some exceptions to the applicable affiliation rules.

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Government Retail Therapy: Congress Removes Cap on OTA for Public Health Emergencies

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In an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19, Congress is seeking to eliminate some red tape surrounding biomedical research and development. Specifically, Congress has removed approval requirements on specific transitions to support advanced research and development initiatives.

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SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program Expanded for COVID-19 Disaster

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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act created the Paycheck Protection Program as one tool to help small businesses. But it also provided for additional emergency funds under the SBA’s existing Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Congress appropriated $10 billion for the program. Here are some of the main details on this program.

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UPDATE: Paycheck Protection Program Form Now Does not Disqualify Businesses for Foreign Ownership

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UPDATE: The form this post references has been revised to ask whether the United States is the “principal place of residence for all employees of the Applicant included in the Applicant’s payroll calculation”.

Based on the text of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the fact that a company has foreign owners shouldn’t necessarily disqualify it from participating in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

But the form used to apply says otherwise.

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Defense Department Provides COVID-19 Guidance

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Last week, we wrote about OMB’s guidance to contracting officers in dealing with the extraordinary challenges caused by COVID-19. Among other things, OMB instructed agencies to be flexible in providing extensions on performance deadline and encouraged open communication with industry partners on the response to COVID-19.

Now, the Department of Defense—the federal government’s largest purchasing unit—has issued its own guidance to constituent agencies.

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Client Spotlight: Penn Parking Fights COVID-19 by Making Face Shields

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When you are a business that manages parking lots and garages and then suddenly out of the blue the entire country stops leaving the house, well, you’d be excused for some despair.

But that’s not what Penn Parking, Inc., did. Instead, it decided to help. It is making face shields for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals on the front lines in Maryland, where Penn Parking is located.

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