The Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA) and the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center (VI SBDC) have confirmation from the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) that as of April 16, there are 240 approved Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications for the U.S.V.I. totaling more than $62 million ($62,242,612). In addition, there have been 272 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance approvals totaling $1.3 million ($1,308,000) as of April 19.
As the U.S. Congress finalizes legislation for additional appropriations funding for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and the Paycheck Protection Program, representatives from the US SBA, VI SBDC and the VIEDA are urging small-business owners to get ready to quickly apply for federal financial assistance offered by these programs.
Small businesses can contact a local SBA lender partner in the territory to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program, which include Bank of St. Croix, Merchants Commercial Bank, Oriental Bank, FirstBank and Banco Popular.
Small-business owners can visit www.sba.gov/coronavirus for the most updated information on the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and other SBA programs.
For technical assistance, call or email the VI SBDC at 693-1694 ext. 5104/ info@visbdc.org or the VIEDA at 714-1700/ info@usvieda.org.
