Commercial Loan Officers Shannon Dwyer and Sandy Bloem give business members an update on how the new stimulus package affects PPP forgiveness and tips for what’s coming ahead.

 

[transcript]

0:00:06.6 Lynne Jarman-Johnson: Money, I’m Home. Welcome and I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. Thank you so much for joining us. Boy, I’ll tell you what, the end of the year has also been the beginning of a lot of new stimulus, and so we’re here to talk about that today. And here’s what we know. Well, we know about as much as you do right now. No, seriously, we have some wonderful commercial loan officers that are on the line with us today to talk to us about business plans. Let me first, though, update you about stimulus checks. If you are a member who might be receiving a stimulus check, make sure that you constantly look in your Online Banking, you’re going to see pending on there if it’s coming in. If all of a sudden you’re not seeing it, check IRS.gov and find out what’s going on. We will also try to help you out, but this is something that is fluid, it’s ever-changing, and we don’t know dates for when certain stimuluses are coming in for personal members.

0:01:00.7 LJJ: Now, onto business. Let’s really focus in. We have been so proud at Consumers Credit Union to be able to help you, as a business member, really get to the next level in this PPP funding, payroll protection, also SBA lending. It has been a very whirlwind with the coronavirus, and we just learned, obviously, that we have a brand new stimulus package that’s coming down the pipe, but what does that mean for us? Well, today we’re going to find out. Shannon Dwyer and Sandy Bloem are our Consumers commercial loan officers, and they’re here today. They are the absolute gurus when we are talking about business services and business payroll protection and the lending that is happening. Thanks so much for joining us, you guys.

0:01:48.4 Sandy Bloem: Yeah.

0:01:48.9 Shannon Dwyer: Thanks for having us.

0:01:50.4 SB: Absolutely.

0:01:51.3 LJJ: Hey, Shannon, I’m going to start with you. You and Sandy have both been leading the charge and helping communicate what is going on with the new funding and stimulus, but let’s back up a minute, because the first section of PPP forgiveness, are there due dates? Is there a flurry of activity that’s happening on getting forgiveness for those loans?

0:02:14.7 SD: Yes, PPP forgiveness, it’s definitely top of mind for our members, and I think there’s been some misunderstanding just in general across the board with business owners thinking that there is a December 31st, 2020, deadline to apply for forgiveness. That is definitely not the case. You actually have well into next year to apply for forgiveness, and actually, with this stimulus bill that was signed by President Trump on Sunday evening, it’s actually going to allow for streamline forgiveness of PPP loans that are $150,000 and below. Now, all of the details of what that new application will look like, we don’t know that yet. And I will say, businesses are still going to have to make similar certifications, most likely, as the current application gets out. It should be a lot less supporting documentation that they have to provide to us as a lender though. So, in all honesty, if business members haven’t applied yet, it’s really best to just wait for that new application if their loan is 150,000 and under. The SBA has 24 days from the date that act was enacted to form a new forgiveness application, so we should see it late January. We’re not totally sure what that business day is, it’s not regular days, but it’s coming.

0:03:29.1 LJJ: Well, you bring up a good point, Shannon. And Sandy, jump in here because I think one of the things that people are confused about is last time there was so much change that happened as it was rolled out. Is that happening again because of the stimulus and the changes to the forgiveness that we just heard about?

0:03:49.3 SB: Yes, when I think some of it… We’re still waiting on the details, as Shannon mentioned. It’s well into January before we’ll get the new one-page forgiveness form, but it absolutely is worth waiting for because it will be so much easier, and we’re hoping there’s absolutely no supporting documentation aside from your certification. The other three forms are still in play, but if you’ve got $150,000 PPP loan and below, just wait for that. Congress also, excuse me, SBA also has another 10 days to come up with the new rules on how that looks as well, and so we’re waiting for them. We’re still a little short on details but hold tight, hopefully coming soon. And we’re hoping that there’s less changes with this, because this is basically PPP 3.0, and so they’ve had one and two to sort of clarify things.

0:04:44.9 LJJ: So you know what I’m hearing, and I think is really helpful, is, it’s okay to be patient, and it’s also okay to find out where is the place that I can go to find the latest information. Sandy, how is it that someone can find the most up-to-date information, even if it might be a changing, fluid environment?

0:05:05.3 SB: Yes, that’s a great question. So we do have a forgiveness website, and we’re updating it again today, and as things change in the next week, as we know, we’ll get some more clarification, we’ll update that. Hopefully not daily, but if that’s what it takes, then we’ll update it daily with new information that’s coming out. And as you mentioned, SBA should also have information on their website, which is SBA.gov. The Treasury also has information, and that’s treasury.gov. So, several places you can look, but we will do our best to keep the website updated frequently.

0:05:43.1 LJJ: Well, and I know, Sandy and Shannon, you have both been sending information in regularly, so you obviously are in the know, you’re connected, you’re watching the different changes that happen. When we talk about a bill like this, it’s not like it’s, okay, as you said, there should be a one-pager coming, but a bill isn’t a one-pager, right, Shannon? So, I mean, there’s so much in this that it is okay to be patient to find out what to do.

0:06:10.8 SD: Exactly, and like we saw the last time when the initial CARES Act was passed, the PPP program was in general laid out, and there were quite a few changes that came through when SBA actually went and outlined the guidance, and then from that initial guidance, there were several more iterations that came out. So yeah, we just have to be patient. But I think, like Sandy said, this is now the third time around for the program. So I think a lot more things are in place. Hopefully, it’ll be a little bit more straight forward when it is released. So definitely stay tuned.

0:06:42.8 LJJ: One of the things that is very eye-opening is that communication portal that helps people understand those changes that are happening very, very fast. But then, also, helps our business members with the questions that they may have when you wake up in the middle of the night and you’re scratching your head and you’re just not sure. This is where I believe, Shannon and Sandy, our Consumers business services team shines. You are there to answer the questions and to help our business members one-on-one. One of the things that I would love to find out from you, is how much intensity has it been for you guys personally? You obviously have had people communicating with you at all hours of the day. Sandy?

0:07:34.8 SB: Yes. Absolutely. We’re getting calls and emails at all times of the day and the night and understandably so. You’ve got business owners that are concerned about what’s happening. Their sales have not been where they’ve needed to be. They’ve got people that they care about that are their employees and they want to take care of them. And so, getting money in their hands and walking them through this PPP process is so important, which I think brings up another point. There’s another round of PPP money that’s coming out. We don’t have all the details on that yet. Once again, we’re waiting for regulation from SBA, but I believe that it will be able to help a lot of our business members. It’s not for every business, because there has to be some reduction in revenues. But rather than going through the details that we think will be there, we would like to wait until clarification from them as well. So, lots of things in this legislation, but all good, I think.

0:08:40.2 LJJ: Well, Shannon and Sandy, if there is one thing that you’d like our business members to hear today, what is that? Shannon, you start.

0:08:48.6 SD: Yeah, well, I hear you say this a lot, Lynne, and I have to say, we are here for you. So, reach out to us. If you have a commercial loan officer like Sandy or I that you work with, by all means, reach out to our team. Our contact information is on the Consumers website as well. Reach out to your retail team. We’re here for you. Just let’s keep the communication open and do some patience while we await the final guidance and regulations. We are very eager to learn more as much as, I’m sure, all of you are.

0:09:18.5 LJJ: Sandy, your thoughts?

0:09:19.5 SB: Agreed. I have to echo what Shannon has said. Yes, we’re here for you and 2020 has been a lesson in patience for all of us, not only with PPP and SBA, but life in general. So, continue that onto the first quarter of 2021, and we will get out the information as quickly as we can, but please do ask the questions.

0:09:44.7 LJJ: Shannon, Sandy, thank you so much for taking the time today. I know that you guys are really busy connecting with our members, and I really do appreciate the time. And for those of you that do have questions, make sure you head to our website. We will be updating that, consumerscu.org, with the most recent, that we can find, information that is accurate. And it’s okay to hear the answer, “We’re not quite sure yet.” Be patient. We will make sure that you find out information as soon as we do. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson. Thank you so much for joining us today. Money, I’m Home with Consumers Credit Union. Thank you, Jake Esselink, for your wonderful production skills. And we hope everyone has a wonderful week and an extremely healthy new year.

[music]