Business relief funds offered

Dozens of local businesses hurt by the COVID-19 emergency will soon benefit from a short-term loan program established by Wise County.

Also, a regional coalition spanning Southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee has launched a business assistance grant program.

Meanwhile, there has been frustration with several aspects of the federal Paycheck Protection Program loan initiative, which last week got a new infusion of cash that nearly doubled the total funding initially approved by Congress.

LOCAL EFFORT

The Wise County Industrial Development Authority has $255,000 available for small business loans, County Administrator Mike Hatfield wrote in a Monday email: $150,000 of county funds, $100,000 from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and $5,000 from the Lenowisco Planning District Commission.

Qualifying businesses can get a loan up to $5,000 at zero interest for three years, with no payments due for six months.

“We have had approximately 30 applications to date,” he wrote. “They are being evaluated and money should be available this week.”

For more information, contact the IDA at 328-2321.

REGIONAL FUND

A coalition of regional chambers of commerce, business organizations, companies and other entities has established the RegionAHEAD Local Business Recovery Fund. It will share money raised through a fundraising effort.

Small businesses that are found to be in the greatest need can qualify for grants, according to a press release. In Virginia, businesses are eligible in Norton, Bristol and the counties of Wise, Dickenson, Lee, Scott, Buchanan, Russell, Tazewell, Smyth and Washington.

Grants are intended for businesses involved in arts, entertainment or recreation, accommodation and food services, retail trade or manufacturing.

Businesses can apply for grants online at RegionAHEAD.com. An allocation committee made up of regional economic development representatives, educators, healthcare professionals, a banker and a certified public accountant will review the applications and disburse the funds as quickly as funding and applications can be received through the effort.

Funds will be disbursed in May.

PPP LOANS

The federal government’s virus-related economic relief package included an initial $349 billion infusion for the Paycheck Protection Program, which is intended to help businesses keep employees on the payroll and meet other short-term costs until operating conditions return to something approaching normalcy.

The program’s first round has faced intense criticism over loan terms that allowed giant banks and other giant firms to obtain extremely cheap debt, while leaving smaller and vastly more financially fragile businesses in the cold.

Also, the initial funding ran out much quicker than federal officials expected.

When asked about the local effect, Powell Valley National Bank chief executive Leton Harding explained April 21 that the bank had received 302 PPP loan applications and got 287 of them approved “before the pipeline was shut down.”

PVNB received PPP funding of $21.5 million and had approved loans for $18.7 million as of April 21, he noted. Harding expected the remaining funds to be distributed no later than April 29.

Of the bank’s PPP loans, 106 were for $25,000 or less; 70 were for $50,000 or less; 37 were for less than $100,000; and 55 were for more than $100,000.

The Virginia Bankers Association reported April 17 that as of the previous day, Virginia banks had processed nearly 40,400 PPP loan applications for more than $8.7 billion. When the initial $349 billion for PPP loans ran out, there were an estimated 22,700-plus Virginia small businesses that had submitted applications but had not yet received federal Small Business Administration approval. They sought nearly $3.24 billion in loans.

The newly approved funding package adds $310 billion nationwide for PPP loans. Of that, $30 billion will be set aside for processing by financial institutions with assets of less than $10 billion. Another $30 billion will be set aside for institutions with assets between $10-50 billion.