CIE and our local economic development partners are participating in a range of teleconferences regarding responses to COVID-19 economic impacts. I will provide near-real time updates from these calls to keep everyone informed, with the most recent call at the top:

Senator Patty Murray’s Office and SBA

Tuesday March 17, 2020

On the call:

Kerrie Hurd, SBA Seattle District Director
Jeremy Field, SBA Region X Administror
Shawn Bills, State Director, Senator Patty Murray
Zach Mallove, Economic Policy Advisor, Senator Patty Murray

Key Takeaways

Where to get more information or apply: https://www.sba.gov/disaster-assistance/coronavirus-covid-19 or 800-659-2955.
Most of Washington state has been declared as eligible for Economic Impact Disaster Loans (EIDL). This includes Clallam, Jefferson and Skagit counties.
EIDL loans takes 3 weeks to qualify, 1 week to get funds, 4 weeks total.
Existing SBA funding tools can be quicker. Jeremy Field of SBA recommends concurrently applying for standard SBA loans, which can be turned around within a week, when applying for the EIDL loans. Apply for these at lendermatch.com, which gives you access to lenders across the country.
If you have an existing SBA Loan, you can still apply for the EIDL loans. You can also seek payment deferment on your existing loans - usually up to 6 months at lender disgression.
SBA and Patty Murray's office expect additional concessions for small businesses, so the situation is very fluid. There is conversation about some federal small business grant funding, but nothing concrete yet. Stay tuned!

Unanswered Questions

The SBA is following up on a few questions they didn’t know answers to, including:

Will loan applicants/recipients qualify for grants if they become available later?
If a business has not been in operation for two years (and cannot therefore show 2 years of financial records), can they still access funds ?