Salon pros everywhere can now breathe a sigh of relief. On February 24, President Joe Biden announced a major change to the Paycheck Protection Program — one that would help struggling salon and barbershop owners and stylists who have been majorly impacted by the on-going coronavirus pandemic.
Under a new provision of the program, the Small Business Administration will be accepting applications for forgivable PPP loans from businesses — including salons and barber shops — that have fewer than 20 employees, for a 14-day period starting on Wednesday. According to a statement from the Biden administration, small businesses “often struggle more than larger businesses to collect the necessary paperwork and secure relief from a lender.” As a result of this, all larger businesses will be blocked from applying during this two-week window.
As for independent stylists and barbers out there? Don’t worry, Biden’s got you covered, too! The PPP formula now allows sole-proprietors and independent contractors to receive more funding. As you might know (or may not know), previously these groups were excluded from PPP or received as little as $1 because of how loan amounts were calculated. Now, the Biden administration has set aside $1 billion for this category, alone.
This second round of PPP sets aside $284 billion of payments for salon pros. In an effort to ensure that the hair and barbering industry takes advantage of this much needed government aid, the Professional Beauty Federation of California has worked with SBA-approved lenders to create an unprecedented online portal that salon and barbering pros can use to submit their entire application.
But, the support for the styling community doesn’t end there! According to a press release from PBFC, a call center has been established by leading lender, Adesso Capital, to help applicants across all 50 states with their application.
“Personal Care professionals in the beauty, barbering, and spa industry were the sacrificial lambs to the Covid gods,” stated PBFC Legal Counsel and Advocate, Fred Jones. “We were marginalized because we weren’t understood, respected, or feared by our elected officials. The PBFC’s coordinated #OpenSalonsNow grassroots campaign, two successive federal lawsuits, and now this unprecedented focus on PPP funding for our struggling professionals has raised our public esteem and political impact. We will no longer be unjustifiably sacrificed without a fight.”
According to the PBFC, so far, over 12,000 industry professionals and shop owners have used the online portal and over $25 million in SBA-approved loans have gone out to the industry in real time with another $25 million in the process of full submission.
If you’re a salon pro that’s eligible to receive PPP relief, we highly recommend that you take advantage of this two-week window and get to applying, STAT!
To begin your application or receive more information about PPP relief, please visit federationplans.com/ppp/.