Business owners can now apply for an up to $10,000 cash advance grant through the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
The SBA added the new economic relief measure to the program over the weekend, which means those who applied before Monday will have to apply again to be considered for the cash advance, said Shirah Apple, public affairs specialist at the Wisconsin SBA.
The $10,000 grant is a cash advance of the funds that an applicant would receive through the EIDL program, which gives business owners impacted by COVID-19 access to a loan of up to $2 million.
The cash advance could be forgiven if spent on “maintaining payroll and other operating expenses,” according to the SBA website.
The current timeline suggests that business owners would have access to cash advance funds within three days of a successful application. But it’s still not clear how long it will take business owners to receive the cash advance.
“The goal of course is to deliver it in as timely a manner as possible and as efficiently as possible,” Apple said. “We’re going to do the best we can and be there to help small businesses.”
U.S. SBA regional administrator Robert Scott previously told BizTimes the application process for EIDL takes 18 to 21 days to process the loans and 2 to 5 days to disburse the funds. However, reapplying for the cash advance will not impact the status or slow an existing application, Apple said.
To apply for the EIDL or cash advance, click here.
