The Paycheck Protection Program — a forgivable loan effort designed to help small businesses cover costs during the Covid-19 pandemic — is now more accessible than ever, though it still doesn’t meet the needs of many firms.
The White House announced a new set of changes on Monday that aim to prioritize the smallest businesses — and to bolster support for Black and Latino business owners who were left behind in the earlier waves of the program. These tweaks attempt to make the program’s loans more useful for people who are self-employed, and to clarify how non-citizens can apply. They also try to clear the queue for very small businesses by forcing banks and other lenders to only process applications from businesses with…
