The Small Business Administration has approved fewer than 500 Economic Injury Disaster Loans in Maryland for a total of $105.3 million.
Data from the SBA on Tuesday showed the agency approved 462 of its relief loans in Maryland as of April 19. That’s fewer than 1% of the estimated 594,124 small businesses in Maryland.
Small businesses in Maryland started applying on March 20 for emergency relief loans up to $2 million. The $10 billion EIDL program is separate from the Paycheck Protection Program. EIDL assistance comes directly from the SBA, instead of through banks, and intends to help small businesses cope with the COVID-19 pandemic by allowing them to replace short-term lost revenue.
The loans have interest rates of 3.75% for small businesses and 2.75% for nonprofits.
Nationally, the SBA has approved 26,919 loans totaling $5.57 billion. Maryland ranks No. 19 among states for the number of loans and No. 17 for dollars. Maryland received 1.9% of the funds approved by the SBA.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Holden Wilen over at the Baltimore Business Journal