When it was clear that the novel coronavirus was going to severely disrupt the business operations of many U.S. companies across a wide range of industries, lawmakers decided to provide economic relief via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which, among other things, created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The PPP initiative, which has seen two rounds of funding totaling $659 billion and is being administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through traditional lenders, was intended to provide short-term financing to small businesses that would otherwise have to lay off employees as a result of stay-at-home orders and mandatory shutdowns.
