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

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

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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SmallGovCon Week In Review: March 30 – April 3, 2020

This past week, SmallGovCon continued to provide important updates and insights related to how federal contractors can prepare and support their business during this unprecedented response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because we’ve provided a lot of information, I’ve summarized what our authors discussed in the past week, as well as providing a roundup of other news in the government contracting arena.

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

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

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

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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