Podcast
"It made a huge difference" how quickly BBVA funded the PPP loan''
While the ripple effects of COVID-19 have essentially hit almost every aspect of life in the U.S., the Paycheck Protection Program - part of the CARES Act passed by Congress in response to the negative economic impact the pandemic has had - has highlighted the difficulties that have befallen small businesses from coast-to-coast.
Also known as the PPP, the program is designed to incentivize qualifying small businesses to continue to pay its employees. The PPP has a maximum loan amount of $10 million and is designed to keep employees on a small business’ payroll for eight weeks.
BBVA's involvement in the program has yielded meaningful results. The bank was one of the first in the U.S. to open for applications so that applicants could be among the first in line for the federal funding program. The bank also trained hundreds of additional employees so that it can continue to process the applications quickly.
As of mid-April, BBVA USA’s share of job saving and retaining through this program would be more than 312,000.
A handful of those jobs came from Smarter Remodeling - a general contracting company specializing in commercial and residential renovations. Based in Jacksonville, Florida and founded by President and CEO Fabian Videla, the company found that it was not immune to the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. Faced with a crossroad that could have ended in a complete shutdown and the laying off of his employees - most of whom had no financial safety net - he turned to the Paycheck Protection Program.
Fabian gives his experience with the program, and his interactions with BBVA, in this month's The Mind Bank podcast.
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