SBA approves 60,000 Paycheck Protection Program loans in first week

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that it has approved approximately 60,000 PPP loan applications submitted by nearly 3,000 lenders, for over $5 billion, between the program’s reopening Monday, Jan. 11, through to Sunday, Jan. 17. The PPP provided dedicated access to community financial institutions recently that specialize in serving underserved communities, including minority- women- and veteran-owned small businesses from Monday through Thursday, joined Friday by smaller lenders. As of Tuesday, Jan. 19, the Paycheck Protection Program was open to all participating lenders. “The SBA continues to help small businesses across the nation access vital funds through the Paycheck Protection Program. Data from our first week, which first allowed hundreds