Survey shows that PPP loans and long-term relief still needed in Utah

Although government aid in the form of Payroll Protection Program loans has helped the vast majority of recipients stay open in Utah, more support is needed to help small businesses recover and grow. That’s according to a survey conducted by Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses Voices (10KSBV). The survey data comes as small- business owners in Utah and across the country are calling on Congress and the administration to pass another relief package and enact a long-term recovery agenda that puts small businesses front and center.

“Small businesses like mine are the backbones of our communities and our economy,” saidNatalie Kaddas, CEO of Kaddas Enterprises in Utah and a member of the 10KSBV community. “After a year of tremendous uncertainty, it’s time to invest in small businesses and put us on the path to recovery.”

“The strength of small businesses will help us measure the success of the economic recovery,” said Jessica Johnson-Cope, president and principal of Johnson Security Bureau Inc. in New York, and chair of the 10KSBV National Leadership Council. “Congress took an important step towards relief in December but must tackle the unfinished business of supporting the entrepreneurs who drive our economy.”

The survey found that the vast majority of qualified small businesses applied for round two of the Payroll Protection Program, a federal loan program to help businesses keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis. At a national level, 66 percent of small businesses qualify for a second PPP loan, and 83 percent of those who qualify have applied for a second PPP loan. In the West, 64 percent of small businesses qualify for that second PPP loan with 83 percent of the qualified businesses applying.

Despite help from the second round of PPP, small businesses still need long-term solutions to survive. Eighty-eight percent of respondents and 95 percent of Western business owners say the second PPP loan is absolutely vital or very important to help their business survive.