In the News: PPP2 Loans Total $5 Billion in the First Week

With the passing of the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced that it has so far approved some 60,000  loans in its first week. From January 11th to January 17th, 2021, more than $5 billion in loans were provided by some 3,000 lenders.

With the vaccine rollout still a work in progress, small businesses are still dealing with contrasting closure policies that are negatively affecting them more than large companies. The good news in all this is PPP2 has more measures to help and protect small businesses than the first time. This includes giving those that didn’t get a loan before August 8, 2020, the first draw, they won’t need collateral or personal guarantees, and only 1% interest rate to name a few.

Learning from the many mistakes of the first round, lawmakers tried to protect small businesses a little bit more this time. This includes limiting the maximum amount of a Second Draw PPP loan to $2 million. The “More Than 60,000 PPP2 Loans Approved in First Week of Lending” article in this week’s roundup is just one of the pieces you can read addressing the needs of small business owners.

Small Business News Roundup – January 29, 2021

Take a look at some of the other headlines making news for small businesses.

Are Backlinks Dead? No, Especially for Local Businesses

For small business Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be a challenging digital marketing task. While most SEO experts agree that there are a large number of ranking signals, links are not yet dead according to an infographic by DIRJOURNAL. Good linking remains an important component to building your website. To rank websites, businesses need links- high-quality links.

Typography Design Trends for 2021

Typography is an essential part of the messaging you want to convey and enhance the brand of your business. With the right fonts, you can evoke emotion or express an idea by either using it in headlines, body text or even your logo.

Why Your Business Should Have an Active Social Media Presence

Did you know that the ad spend on Facebook grew by almost 30% in 2020? According to the same report, the trend indicated that budgets were tightened but more budget was allocated to digital channels and social media. Furthermore, the trend is set to continue in 2021.

New Data Shows What’s Working for Local Small Businesses on Google

Knowing which digital marketing levers to pull for a good Google ranking can be difficult for small businesses. But the Local Rank Factors Survey for 2020 can help. It defines what’s been working and what hasn’t over the last year. Small Business Trends contacted Craig J. Mount, the founder of Classy Brain, to find out where SMBs can best spend their SEO dollars.

How to Be a Business With a Longevity Plan

For most small businesses, it was a rough year. Many owners learned that they now need to build a business with a longevity plan in place and not just think about how to generate revenue this month.

5 Things to Know About Your Employees Now

Employees are essential to most businesses. Finding and retaining good employees can be challenging, especially during tough times such as the pandemic. The government continually changes rules impact you and your employees. Employee Rules for 2021 Here are some new rules to note for 2021. 1.

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This article, "In the News: PPP2 Loans Total $5 Billion in the First Week" was first published on Small Business Trends