Nevada Small Businesses Receive More Help Under SBA’s Second Round Of Emergency Loan Funding

After performing poorly in the first round, small businesses in Nevada received the second highest number of loans approved and total assistance in the second round of funding from the Small Business Administration’s emergency loan program, compared to six states of similar size.

But overall, the Silver State remains near the bottom of these seven states, which have between 2.9 million and 3.5 million people, according to a analysis SBA statistics released on Sunday that include the second round funding.

Nevada arrived last among the seven states in the first round.

The state, which has a population of 3.08 million, ranked fifth in the total amount of paycheck protection program assistance provided through May 1 at $ 3.95 billion and is remained last in the number of loans approved compared to the other six states with 30,637. (Those numbers could change slightly. The SBA noted that it is still confirming information on 578 loans totaling $ 48.5 million.)

Between April 27 and May 1, Nevada approved 21,963 loans for a total of $ 1.9 billion, according to SBA statistics on Sunday. Between April 3 and April 16, Nevada approved 8,674 loans for a total of $ 2.01 billion.

The second round numbers propelled the state’s overall ranking to 37th from 43rd for the number of loans approved compared to all other states.

Of the seven states with the same population, only Connecticut, a state of 3.5 million people, did better than Nevada in the second round with 29,559 for a total of $ 2.6 billion.

After Nevada, Utah saw 21,751 loans approved for a total of $ 1.67 billion, followed by Iowa with 19,997 loans approved for an amount of $ 781 million. Kansas had approved 18,470 loans for a total of $ 815 million; Mississippi had 16,757 approved loans providing $ 658 million; and Arkansas had approved 15,454 loans for a total of $ 618 million. Puerto Rico, which has a population of 3.19 million, was also part of the second round with 19,691 loans approved totaling $ 987 million.

President Donald Trump signed a law on April 24 providing for the second turn in funding, $ 321 billion, for the SBA’s paycheck protection program after congressional approval that week.

The funds came after the initial $ 349 billion planned for the PPP was used up in about two weeks as companies struggled to stay afloat after governors, including in Nevada, shut down non-essential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The second-round funding figures also come after the Nevada congressional delegation was victorious in pressing for a change in PPP rules, which effectively found most small gaming companies ineligible for PPP loans.

The SBA said nationally, more than 2.2 million second-round loans have been approved by more than 5,400 lenders for a total of $ 175.7 billion. The majority of second round loans were less than $ 50,000 and the average loan size was $ 79,000.

Launched on April 3 as part of the coronavirus relief program known as the CARES Act, PPP provides loans to small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Part of the program’s appeal is that loans used to pay for certain expenses, such as keeping workers in place or paying mortgage interest, rent, and utilities, do not have to be repaid.

Disclosure: The Nevada Independent received a PPP loan.