Happy Monday to all of our PPP friends! You may have noticed that there was no Friday update last week. That is due to the lack of substantive changes being made to any aspect of the program, including forgiveness. While there have been some minor modifications and clarifications, most have been specific to individual industries and will not apply to most of our borrowers. As you probably know, tomorrow, June 30^th, is the last day to apply and be approved for a PPP loan. We are continuing to accept loan applications through noon tomorrow, with the intent of finishing all approvals by 5:00 EST. Once we have processed all applications, we can turn our attention to the loan forgiveness process.

We will be putting on two webinars (possibly more, if demand dictates) to discuss the basics of the PPP loan forgiveness rules and to introduce CFB’s forgiveness application tool. Wednesday’s webinar will begin at Noon EST. If you would like to participate, please copy and paste this link (https://meet.google.com/wjg-goid-sjs) in your internet browser to join the video. The dial-in number is +1 320-429-8169, pin 588750817. The presentation should last no more than 20 minutes, with a Q&A session to follow. Our platform will accommodate up to 250 participants. With about 600 PPP borrowers, you may want to call in early. Our second presentation will be held on Thursday, July 9^th at 3:00 pm, EST. The call-in information for that webinar will be provided at a later date. These webinars are intended to provide a high-level overview of the forgiveness guidance and process. We will also continue to provide links to access SBA and Treasury publications relating to PPP loan forgiveness.

While there are variables that impact each of our borrowers’ forgiveness calculations, there are a few things that we believe to be true for the vast majority. Those are as follows:

• With an increased forgiveness period of 24 weeks, we believe nearly 100% of our borrowers should qualify for full loan forgiveness.
• Utilizing the 24-week forgiveness period, most borrowers will quality based on payroll alone. This will simplify the documentation needed.
• Because borrowers have up to 10 months following the forgiveness period to apply for forgiveness, there should be adequate time to gather and submit the appropriate documentation.
• Because the interest is also forgiven, there is no reason to rush to be “first in line” to have forgiveness applications submitted and processed.
• The forgiveness tool we have chosen should prove to be a simple one to use.

 

While we are holding the webinars to provide assistance for those who need it, many, if not most of you, will be able to complete the forgiveness application without assistance from the bank. If additional help is needed, we will still have the SBA processing number, (765) 456-4306, available to provide assistance.

Thank you again for choosing CFB to provide your PPP financing. Many of you who were not previously customers have chosen to move business to our bank and we truly appreciate it! For all, as we move forward through the loan forgiveness process, we understand that financing needs created by this pandemic will not necessarily end with the PPP program. If you need further assistance or if you have other borrowing needs, please keep us in mind.

All the best,