VESTAL — The New York State Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Binghamton University is available to assist small businesses throughout the region with applying for and “understanding the forgiveness process” for PPP loans now through Aug. 8. 

PPP is short for Paycheck Protection Program, an initiative of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The federal CARES Act created programs to help businesses deal with the challenges of COVID-19, including financing options, like PPP, designed to help keep employees on the payroll during the pandemic. 

Through July 10, more than 4.9 million PPP loans had been approved nationally, totaling more than $517 billion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. The loans came through nearly 5,500 lenders. In New York state, nearly 326,000 PPP loans had been approved, totaling $38 billion.

Small businesses may still apply for PPP funding if they have not previously received support from the program. 

President Donald Trump on July 4 signed into law an extension of the program through Aug. 8. In many cases, lenders will continue accepting applications until the end of July, the SBDC said. As of July 10, more than $132 billion in PPP funding remained available nationally, per the Treasury Department.

The PPP offers small businesses the chance to obtain a loan that is “potentially forgivable,” provided they use at least 60 percent of the funding for payroll, and the remainder for other allowed expenses. The advisors at the Binghamton University SBDC can assist with both the application process and in understanding the process for forgiveness.

Since mid-March, Binghamton SBDC advisors have worked with 720 small businesses on various forms of assistance specific to COVID-19. In that time, they provided more than 10,000 hours of service, resulting in more than $16 million in loans for area small businesses, Binghamton University said. More than $10 million came in the form of PPP loans.

“Our team has worked tirelessly to help the many businesses who came to us for assistance. Our team members have been the small business first responders,” Rochelle Layman, director of the Binghamton SBDC, said in a statement. “We believe that our assistance had a real impact on helping to keep small businesses open and to keep employees on payrolls. At the same time, we recognize that our work is not yet done. Small businesses will continue to need assistance through this challenging time.”

Since its inception in 1984, the SBDC at Binghamton University says it has assisted 28,480 clients and helped to raise more than $433 million in private and public funding for their businesses, and has helped create or save 19,147 jobs across the Southern Tier of New York.

The SBDC regional office at Binghamton provides support for 12 New York counties: Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga, Tompkins, Allegany, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, and Yates counties.