Ten days after banks began accepting loan applications from small businesses hurting from the coronavirus pandemic, Israel Shaked was still trying to file his request.
“The process is very, very lengthy,” said Shaked, who is the owner of a consulting firm and a finance professor at Boston University. He’s trying to secure a $200,000 loan from Bank of America.
“There’s very little guidance,” he said. “I don’t know how small businesses are doing it.”
As part of the historic $2.2 trillion stimulus package Congress passed at the end of March to grease up an economy under near lockdown, there is a $349 billion pot of money from which small business owners can apply for forgivable loans to hopefully keep their employees paid throughout the crisis. The funds, available on a first-come, first-served basis, were supposed to be easy to apply for, through a simple, two-page form.
Israel and Varda Shaked
Source: Israel and Varda Shaked
Yet Shaked said the process has been anything but…