In her weekly update of the Samll Business Administration’s COVID-19 loans and grants for American Samoa Congresswoman Tali Aumua Amata says the total increased by about $2.6 million to $17,810,411.
That includes 321 combined loans from two programs, and 189 emergency advances at an average of $5,613 per advance.
This SBA assistance includes the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which Congress extended last week until August 8th, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program, providing both local loans and emergency advances.
PPP Loans: 26 new loans totaling $1,771,293 were approved taking the total approved to date to 223 loans worth $10,506,811.
EIDL Advances: Another 27 of American Samoa’s employers received EIDL emergency advances (direct assistance, not loans), making a new total of 189 approved for a new sum of $1,061,000.
EIDL Loans: Local small businesses accessed another $655,300 in loans in the past week, bringing the total number of loans approved to 98 with a combined value of $6,242,600.
The temporary PPP assistance was briefly closed last week, but Congress extended the program through August 8th. The EIDL program is expected to continue into December of 2020. Small businesses and nonprofits interested in this assistanceshould go through local lenders.
“Our businesses needed this assistance, and we all need our small businesses,” said Aumua Amata. “Thank you to the businesses here, to SBA and the lenders, and everyone else involved in informing or encouraging these efforts locally, including the Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Development Center, and ASG.”
