The U.S. Small Business Administration has reopened the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and EIDL Advance program portal to all eligible applicants whose businesses have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency paused the program on May 4 to give agricultural businesses a better opportunity to apply for assistance, but it has now opened the portal to meet the needs of all U.S. small businesses and nonprofits.
“With the reopening of the EIDL assistance and EIDL Advance application portal to all new applicants, additional small businesses and nonprofits will now be able to receive these long-term, low interest loans and emergency grants – reducing the economic impacts for their businesses, employees and the communities they support,” said SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza in a prepared statement.
“Since EIDL assistance, due to the pandemic, first became available to small businesses located in every state and territory, SBA has been strongly committed to working around the clock, providing dedicated emergency assistance to the small businesses and nonprofits that are facing economic disruption due to the COVID-19 impact,” Carranza said. “To meet this unprecedented need, the SBA has made numerous improvements to the application and loan closing process, including deploying new technology and automated tools, and continues to work to provide the greatest amount of emergency economic relief possible.”
The EIDL program offers long-term, low interest loans for both small businesses and nonprofits. EIDL loans can be used to cover payroll and inventory, pay debt or fund other expenses; and the EIDL Advance will provide up to $10,000 or $1,000 per employee of emergency relief to businesses experiencing COVID-19 related difficulties. These emergency grants don’t need to be repaid.
The interest rate for EIDL is 3.75 percent for small businesses and 2.75 percent for nonprofits. Loans can be repaid for up to a maximum of 30 years, and the first payment is deferred for one year.
