Second PPP rollout slower in New Hampshire this time around
‘We were in a different place’ last year, says SBA director
Amy Bassett, director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s New Hampshire district office.
The U.S. Small Business Administration rolled out the Paycheck Protection Program more slowly this time, hoping to target smaller businesses, and it appeared to get what it wished nationally – though not so much in New Hampshire.
As of Jan. 24, 13 days after the PPP’s second incarnation began, some 2,164 New Hampshire businesses took out $223 million in forgivable loans, whereas the during the mad 13-day rush following the program’s launch last April, 11,582 Granite State businesses got more than $2 billion.
“This is slower than last time for sure,” said Amy Bassett, the SBA’s New Hampshire District director. During the last rollout, the pandemic impacted people more, she said. “We were in a different place. Everybody was shut down.”
There are other differences as well. The maximum loan size has been reduced from $10 million to $2 million, and the size of companies to be eligible has dropped from a maximum of 500 to 300. And this time the borrower has to show a 25% reduction of revenue in any quarter last year compared to the same quarter before the pandemic.
In any case, the change appears to have had a big impact on loan size. Nationally, the average loan size during this rollout was about $87,000, compared to $206,000 during the first two weeks. In New Hampshire, the average size loan this rollout was $103,609, a few hundred dollars more than last year’s average PPP loan, but less than the $173,000 average loan during last year’s initial rollout in the state.
