New PPP Rules for Sole Proprietors and Businesses with 20 or fewer Employees
From February 24th to March 9th, the Small Business Administration will accept applications for PPP loans for sole proprietors and businesses with fewer than 20 employees.
The move is meant to make it easier for businesses with few or no employees - sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed people such as house cleaners and personal care providers - to apply that previously could not qualify due to business cost deductions.
In addition to the 2-week application period:
- $1 Billion will be set aside for low to moderate income areas, where businesses are mostly owned by women and people of color.
- Legal residents who are non citizens will not be excluded from the program.
- Will eliminate exclusions that prohibit a business owner who is delinquent on their student loans from applying to the program.
Please visit the SBA website for requirements, bank locations and further information.
Twenty-Eight Groups Send Letter to Chicago City Council Members on PTO Ordinance
City Council has passed a PTO ordinance that provides greatly expanded paid and sick leave for Chicago employees. The ordinance, however, subjects small businesses to crushing penalties and lawsuits. Many small businesses will also be unable to comply with the mandates of the ordinance by the end of the year. This is an open letter…
Empowering New Businesses: Illinois Launches Back to Business (B2B) NewBiz Program
Illinois Launches Back to Business (B2B) NewBiz Program The application window for the B2B NewBiz program opens on November 30, 2023, and will remain open until January 11, 2024. The Small Business Advocacy Council has advocated for a program that provides grant funding to businesses that launched in 2020 (prior to the pandemic) and in…
Giving Tuesday
As we move into 2024, we would be honored to have you engaged with EMPOWER as one of our supporters. Thank you again for your unwavering support; we look forward to staying connected in the future!
