KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With the pandemic still raging and COVID-19 restrictions still in place, initial unemployment claims are increasing across the country, with nearly 1 million people filing jobless claims last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics.
Help for many job seekers is on the way as the Small Business Administration has $284 billion set aside for another round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
Kansas City-area business owners, such as Sarah Sahli with Bergamot + Ivy Design in Kansas City, Missouri, applied for the loan last time and said it was a lifesaver.
"It allowed us to keep everyone on the payroll, which is a big deal, and I think it helped us retain employees that we might have lost," Sahli said.
Sahli said her business has seen a loss in revenue because most of their work involves providing floral arrangements for weddings and other big events.
"It's still very uncertain and we're heading into spring, which normally is a big wedding season for us and a big event season and there's just not anything on the books like there normally is," Sahli said.
According to the SBA, the first round of PPP loans went to 5.2 million businesses, keeping 51 million Americans employed.
Sahli told 41 Action News she's still considering her options on applying a second time, but she wants to make sure the employees on her staff stay employed.
"That's definitely something we definitely don't want to have to do is let people go," Sahli said.
To learn more about the PPP loan program, visit the SBA website.
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