Paycheck Protection Program

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provides loans to help businesses keep their workforces employed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. This loan program provides loan forgiveness for businesses that demonstrate they have retained employees with the funds.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was established by the CARES Act, passed by Congress in March 2020, and implemented by the Small Business Administration with support from the Department of the Treasury with authorization for up to $659 billion for the program.

The PPP program reopened in January 2020 with additional funds authorized by the Economic Aid Act, including $15 billion set aside for First Draw PPP Loans of $250,000 or less directed to eligible borrowers with a maximum of 10 employees and located in low or moderate-income neighborhoods.

Lenders that elect to become a PPP lender must be approved by SBA and follow the agency’s program guidelines. While all participating lenders follow the same guidelines, details of the PPP loans they offer will vary from lender to lender.

Pathway Lending will consider applications from first-time PPP borrowers and offers loans starting up to $150,000.

Borrowers must repay any portion of the loan proceeds that do not qualify for forgiveness after the covered period expires. PPP loans have an interest rate of 1 percent, and loans issued after June 5, 2020 mature in five years.

PPP loans require no collateral nor personal guarantees, and neither lenders nor the government will charge any fees to small businesses.

Borrowers who apply for loan forgiveness will have deferred loan payments until SBA remits the borrower’s loan forgiveness amount to the lender.

Eight weeks after Pathway Lending disburses funds borrowers can apply for forgiveness.

If a borrower does not apply for loan forgiveness, payments are deferred 10 months after the end of the covered period.

Go to pathwaylending.org/ppp. You’ll answer a few brief questions to find out if a PPP loan from Pathway is a match for your business. If it’s a match, you will continue directly to the application and receive an email from your assigned lender. Otherwise, you will receive an email from Pathway with resources for finding another lender and getting application assistance from the Pathway team.

When you apply, have ready your tax and payroll documents referenced in our Documentation Process plus the following:

• Number of employees
• Business mailing address
• Email addresses of primary signer and owners with greater than 20 percent stake

You can find all approved participating PPP lenders in SBA’s Lender Match. To see the information lenders will require when you apply for a PPP loan, review SBA’s sample First Draw Form or Second Draw Form. Please note the forms are not PPP loan applications but rather a reference to help you prepare to complete an application with your chosen lender.

For assistance completing your application, contact your assigned lender, email ppp@pathwaylending.org or call (615) 425-7171.

PPP applicants with Pathway Lending should start by contacting their assigned lenders for application assistance. We’ll also send you a PPP program guide and a video tutorial to help you calculate the eligible payroll amount. If you need further assistance, your lender will connect you with a member of our Business Advisory Services team.

Any Tennessee business applying for a PPP loan can seek application assistance from the Pathway team, no matter their lender. They can also register and enroll via Pathway Learning to access the PPP program guide and video tutorial for help calculating the eligible payroll amount. To request assistance, email ppp@pathwaylending.org or call (615) 425-7171.

Additional information and updates can be found by visiting www.sba.gov/PPP or www.treasury.gov/cares.

There are many free and low-cost resources available from Pathway Lending and other technical assistance providers that may work just as well. PPP applicants with Pathway Lending should start by contacting their assigned lenders for application assistance included at no cost.

No matter their choice of PPP lender, businesses can register and enroll via Pathway Learning to access our PPP program guide and video tutorial for help calculating the eligible payroll amount.Or, they may request assistance via email at ppp@pathwaylending.org or by  phone at (615) 425-7171.

You should apply with your bank, primary financial institution or other lender considering applications from second-draw, or second-time, PPP borrowers.

Pathway Lending will consider applications from first-draw, or first-time, PPP borrowers.

To find an approved participating lender near you, consult SBA’s Lender Match.

Applications opened the week of January 11 and close March 31, 2021. New and existing PPP borrowers can apply for loans under the program guidelines. Some lending institutions will consider applications from both new and existing borrowers while others will consider applications only from first-time or second-time borrowers. Pathway Lending offers PPP loans up to $150,000 to first-time PPP borrowers in Tennessee.

Note for sole proprietors, 1099 and self-employed businesses: SBA previously indicated these applicants should use net income (line 31 of Schedule C) to calculate the maximum loan amount. The agency is in the process of updating that formula to help these businesses access more financial support. We will update this answer to reflect final SBA guidance when we receive it.

Minimum and maximum loan sizes vary by lending institution but range up to $10 million for first-time borrowers and $20 million for second-time borrowers under PPP guidelines.

Pathway Lending offers first-time borrowers a maximum loan of the lesser or $150,000, or 2.5 times the borrower’s average monthly payroll costs in 2019 or 2020.

No matter the lender, the maximum is calculated based on the borrower’s average monthly payroll costs in 2019 or in 2020 times 2.5. Businesses with NAICS codes beginning with 72 may use 3.5 times average 2019 or 2020 payroll costs. Seasonal businesses that only operate for part of the year can use any 12-week period between February 15, 2019 and February 15, 2020 to determine average monthly payroll for their loan calculation.

See “How to Calculate Maximum Loan Amounts for First Draw PPP Loans” for more detail.

Borrowers may use multiple Schedule C forms to calculate maximum loan amount. PPP applicants with Pathway Lending for which this circumstance applies should ask their assigned lender to connect them with a Business Advisor.

Pathway Lending will consider applications from first-time PPP borrowers and offers loans up to $150,000. These must be Tennessee-based businesses in existence before February 15, 2020.

Existing PPP borrowers who plan to apply for a second round of funding are encouraged to contact their primary financial institution, first-round PPP loan provider, or SBA’s Lender Match. Applicants must meet all eligibility requirements set forth by the SBA.

Yes. We opened applications on February 1, 2021 to any Tennessee business seeking a first PPP loan less than $150,000 with no requirements for a prior relationship with Pathway.

PPP funds are loans, not grants. Borrowers are responsible for repaying any portion that does not qualify for forgiveness under the SBA Guidelines or the terms outlined by the lender. Loans are 100 percent forgivable when borrowers under $150,000 certify they spent at least 60 percent on payroll and the remaining 40 percent for covered expenses over the eight to 24 weeks after funds are disbursed.

SBA program guidelines require PPP borrowers to be in existence prior to February 15, 2020.

This scenario falls outside PPP guidelines since funds are intended to retain existing employees and calculated based on 2019 or 2020 payroll costs incurred. Pathway Lending might be able to help in other ways, and we encourage you to visit pathwaylending.org to learn more about the lending and learning resources we offer.

Pathway Lending will consider applications from first-time PPP borrowers in Tennessee seeking loans under $150,000 that meet all other SBA eligibility requirements.

To be eligible for a First Draw or Second Draw PPP loan the business must have been in existence before February 15, 2020.

Second Draw borrowers must also demonstrate at least a 25-percent drop in gross receipts for at least one calendar quarter in 2020 compared to that same calendar quarter in 2019 or a year-over-year decline in total revenue.

First Draw Applicants and Second Draw must employ 500 or fewer employees. Special rules apply to applicants with more than 300 employees. Second Draw applicants must have used the full loan amount from the First Draw for authorized uses.

First-time borrowers that are eligible to apply include non-profits, veteran organizations, and tribal concerns as well as self-employed, sole proprietorships, and independent contractors (who can determine their loan amount by line 31 on the schedule C of tax returns subject to revised guidance as of 2/24/2021).

Previously ineligible borrowers are now eligible, including certain new organizations, housing cooperatives, 501(c)(6) organizations, and non-profit destination marketing organizations.

Publicly traded companies are not eligible for a Second Draw PPP loan.

SBA guidelines include bankruptcy among a list of reasons it will assign an applicant a ‘hard decline’ for both the First and Second Draw Periods. Other reasons include, “…the applicant or any owner of the applicant is presently suspended, debarred, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, voluntarily excluded from participation in their transaction by any Federal department or agency…”

Lenders may consider applications for businesses with more than 500 employees if they meet the SBA industry size standard or if they have a NAICS code that begins with ‘72’ and more than one physical location with fewer than 500 employees per location.

Under SBA guidelines, borrowers can use PPP loan funds to cover payroll costs (including benefits like health insurance), mortgage interest, rent, utilities, worker protection costs related to COVID-19, certain supplier costs and expenses for operations, other interest on loans (entered before 2/15/2020), software and cloud computing, personal protective equipment, as well as uninsured property damage costs caused by looting or vandalism in 2020.

First Draw PPP Loans qualify for full loan forgiveness provided the business meets the following criteria during the “covered period” following loan disbursement:

• The borrower maintains employee headcount and compensation;
• The First Draw PPP Loan proceeds go to payroll costs and other eligible expenses; and
• The borrower spends at least 60 percent of the First Draw PPP Loan proceeds on payroll costs.

Borrowers can choose a “covered period” of 8 weeks or 24 weeks after disbursement of funds.

PPP borrowers can expect to submit the following documents to the lender for verification of payroll and non-payroll expenses for all periods that coincide with the covered period.

Borrowers under $150,000 must certify they spent at least 60 percent on payroll and the remaining 40 percent for covered expenses over the eight to 24 weeks after funds are disbursed.

Borrowers over $150,000 must provide the lender payroll-related documentation including but not limited to:

• Bank account statements or third-party payroll service provider reports documenting the amount of cash compensation paid to employees;
• Federal Tax return for the business (or equivalent third-party payroll service provider reports);
• Payroll tax filings reported, or to be reported, to the IRS (typically Form 941);
• State quarterly business and individual employee wage reporting and unemployment insurance tax filings reported, or to be reported; and
• Payment receipts, cancelled checks, or account statements documenting employer contributions to employee health insurance and retirement plans that the borrower included in the forgiveness amount.

Non-payroll expense documentation borrowers must provide the lender includes but is not limited to:

• A copy of business mortgage amortization schedule and receipts verifying payments, or lender account statements;
• Copy of current lease agreement and receipts or cancelled checks verifying eligible payments;
• Copies of invoices and receipts, cancelled checks or account statements for business utilities.

Borrowers can apply for forgiveness as soon as the “covered period” ends and no later than 10 months after the “covered period.” Borrowers can choose a “covered period” of 8 weeks or 24 weeks after disbursement of funds.

To apply for loan forgiveness, borrowers should contact their PPP lenders and complete the form your lender supplies (or a lender equivalent):

• SBA Form 3508
• SBA Form 3508EZ
• SBA Form 3508S

The 3508EZ and the 3508S are shortened versions of the application for borrowers who meet specific requirements.

Your lender can provide further guidance on how to submit the forgiveness application.

Employees who are paid cash wages will receive a W-2 at the end of the year with total wages paid to them, and wages will also be included on the Federal Quarterly payroll tax form (941). Use the Quarterly 941s along with state unemployment wage reports to calculate the eligible payroll expense.

Workers paid cash wages that are not reported through the 941 are considered independent contractors and should not be included in the calculation for eligible loan amount.

Independent contractors are eligible to apply for a PPP loan directly. Their earnings are reported on a 1099 which can be used to complete a Schedule C tax form they can use to complete their own PPP application.