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all right we're on go ahead vera good afternoon everyone i'm vera smith winfrey executive director of the bloomfield chamber of commerce and i welcome you to navigating and applying to the ppp an update for small businesses and entrepreneurs today's discussion will walk you through the process of applying for the latest round of the ppp loan program right now share my screen with all of you please know that this program is being recorded and will be available for view um as of monday um we are so pleased to have all of you participating with us today this program is hosted in conjunction with the town of bloomfield the bloomfield chamber of commerce as well as the economic recovery team of bloomfield today's presenters we will have um senator doug mccrory senator derek slap state representative bobby gibson um tom sabula from westfield bank todd navin from westfield bank and stephen vaughn from liberty bank although our our senators are two of our senators are not present with us yet they are i'm going to be participating and they will chime in at a later point in time but right now i'd like to open the floor up to our presenters each of them will give two to three minutes of of part of the conversation and we'll talk about the tools and tips that will be useful to all of our small businesses and our entrepreneurs as they continue this round or go through this round of the ppp in addition um there will be an opportunity for questions and answers immediately following um their presentations so without further ado please um state represent representative bobby gibson you have the floor hi good afternoon um yeah so as far as ppp loans are concerned um the second draw of ppp loans are underway as of january 11 2021 um businesses can now apply for those loans um i'll make my presentation very quick because i'm sure that i'll say information that others may um may repeat and may actually since they're in the industry may have a little bit more information but um those businesses that have applied the first time were turned down um my understanding um if you've been turned down that's one thing but if you haven't heard yet from being turned down you can apply again and i encourage you to do so in order to do so you can go on the small business administration website and all the information is there to apply for the loan and again i will um step back and listen for any questions that may be that i can answer or blend where the other presenters may not um have provided information thank you so much um please note that there we are using the q a so if you will please make sure that you have any questions or um or have any comments that you'd like to give please feel free to raise your hand or submit a question in the q a box uh you can look at the lower part of your screen and you will see the icon for q a so thank you um mr vaughn would you please yes i'm stephen vaughan i'm one of the commercial officers and leadership managers with liberty bank and we're excited about the uh ppp program we are all in as a bank and uh we're focusing right now on that second uh draw of the ppp loans which are available to people who have gotten either their first draw and they've utilized that and they've those expired uh we've gone on and moved into the second phase uh up to this point we have done over almost 2000 applications and which represents 131 million so we're a very strong player in it a couple of things that we've noticed that i'd like to advise um some of the small businesses is take the time to reach out to your accountant to make sure that your numbers are in order that the payroll information is correct that you're completing the forms properly uh make sure that you get all the documentation uh from your you know paychecks or adp whoever your payroll provider is that you have all your invoices this is key and then depending on which bank you work with each bank has a portal a certain method of applying for those loans make sure that you pay clear attention answering every question dotting every eye crossing every key very very important many of the concerns that we've seen is not that the process isn't easy it's just that someone didn't sign a form or somebody didn't press submit or somebody didn't finish the application properly so it's very important the attention to detail having all your ducks in a row and then reach out your bank your bank will help you and work with you so that you can move through this process because it is a good process an easy process and we've funded many loans so far so that's just a little bit on my side we've got other bankers here that this year also great thank you so much mr vaughn i see that senator doug mccrory is on as well um senator mccrory welcome hello how you doing nice to be here good to see you as well too um i i started with senator i'm so sorry i spoke prematurely um mr gibson um i started with representative bobby gibson and i certainly wanted to make sure that i gave you an opportunity to um to say a few opening remarks oh by all means thank you uh first of all uh i guess i'll introduce myself to those who don't know me my name is senator douglas macquarie i represent harford a bloomfield in windsor um i've been in this position for three years before that i've been in state here for 12 years um i serve my education committee but i also serve on the banking committee and i also serve on appropriations committee energy general law and one more committee um i'm excited here to have this conversation it's funny uh interesting because i just had a meeting with the sba um earlier today and we're talking about some of the things that uh um we're trying to do we'll try i'm trying to help them get the information about out about ppp program and i just want to know let everyone know that uh i will be working in can you hear me okay um i'm going to put a program together um sometime early march i'll be communicating with you guys over at the bloomfield chamber of commerce uh putting a program together so that uh small businesses will be more aware and have the resources and um opportunities to go after these this pp money especially those who didn't get the first time around there are some nuanced things going on uh and i just want i mean i'll be happy to get that information out so thanks for having me i hope i didn't go with my two minute living if i didn't have two minutes you're perfectly fine thank you so much um westfield bank we'd like to start with you tom certainly thank you very much i appreciate the chamber of commerce and all the people affiliated with uh the state of connecticut and especially bloomfield and also west hartford and our friends even further up north westfield bank first of all is very excited to be part of the connecticut community uh i apologize i don't have camera capabilities you can't see my face but i was told i have a face ready for uh not being seen so we're probably better off not seeing yourself uh i apologize for that but uh anyway uh my position at westfield bank uh besides being very much promoting all that we do in the state of connecticut is also uh massachusetts which is our kind of our home base uh headquarters area i oversee the entire small business lending program uh at westfield bank and more specifically the ppp program that actually kicked off last year as many of you know and i don't want to repeat the stuff that mr vaughn went over but the things he talked about are the same exact things that we uh that we that we require and need and recommend speaking with the accountants uh attorneys and and and your legal and accountant team before you make application i i really recommend that you visit the sba.gov website uh there's lots of good information there that talks about qualifications and uh how best to proceed with the in the application process at our bank we've processed last year 228 million dollars of ppp loans uh during that first draw cycle uh this year today we're at about 71 million uh the program is still running running strong with money available uh we've processed in this round that we're in right now 70 loans so far in the state of connecticut over 12 million close to 13 million dollars in in loans that we've we've given uh we're we're also doing first draws as well so if companies had did not take advantage of the ppp last year uh they can't apply with us and um and and get their first draw this round even if they hadn't gotten one in the in the previous draw and be a first draw customer uh we our platform is open to uh both customers as well as non-customers so uh we're anxious to to meet especially in the connecticut market as we are ourselves relatively new to that market we're very excited to offer this to uh any applicant that might have an interest in uh proceeding with the ppp loan uh our our application process i don't think could be any easier very streamlined it's automated you can you can get our application right on our website it's completely borrower-led which simply means uh as mr vaughn talked about a few minutes ago that you're having all your information in order once you have it you're pushing a button and uploading it right into our site we will immediately evaluate it and get make sure that all the docs are in order and move it right along the process and literally it gets to distribution as far as disbursement goes with the funds uh if everything is in order it can happen really really quick within within a week time period you'd be getting your disbursement providing all of the information uh application wise as well as uh documentation wise that that's required uh is there so i do encourage you to check with either the sba website or uh as well your accountant to be sure that you have everything in order but once you do and you fill out the basic information that's required and the application form that we have in our automated system is streamlined because sometimes when you look at the sba docs uh you get kind of overwhelmed maybe a little bit if you go onto our website you'll see just the basic information uh name uh ein number business name uh and and really address and really there's not a whole lot that you have to really uh worry about as far as knowledge is concerned to apply with through our bank so we've tried to make it very user friendly very easy uh and attractive for all of our customers and obviously anyone interested in maybe becoming a customer uh this might be a first step to seeing how our process works and we're real proud about how we can move things through and at the end of the day it's all about getting the small businesses the funds that they need during the pandemic and we're excited to be able to do that fast and efficiently and if you get bogged in the process at any point uh i am available i speak with customers all the time we're very uh we're a community bank we we we you're not going to speak with a 800 number you're going to talk directly to one of the my staff and if if for some reason they're busy and you need to talk to me you're going to get right to me and we're going to make sure that uh any any uh any and you slow down the process that we can hopefully overcome it and get and get the funding to you so without going and boring anybody any much longer i certainly take questions later on uh that that's kind of where westfield bank is at and again uh we're just thanking thank again thank everyone at the chamber of commerce for allowing us to be part of this because uh we really want to let you guys let everybody know that we're anxious to do business not only on the ppp side uh small business as well which i kind of head up uh todd navin's with us as well and todd oversees our uh commercial uh area as well as our middle market lending so and he may want to jump in with a few things to say as well but ty i hope that i cover everything that i should have from the banks part if not uh let me know if there's anything else i should throw in no that's good time so todd i was about to you know turn it over to turn the mic over to you and ask if there's anything that you wanted to add um okay uh yeah thank you very much yeah my name is todd navin um i've been in the connecticut banking uh marketplace for my whole career uh and um we're physically based right in west hartford we just opened up a brand new branch and business banking center right on farmington avenue in west hartford center um tom uh was great to lead off he was uh really critical in um pulling together the whole ppp um uh you know uh set up at westfield back last year in the first round and has continued to be critical in keeping that effort going so tom is definitely the subject matter expert as far as the ppp is concerned as tom noted i'm a commercial lender team leader for the connecticut uh for the connecticut commercial efforts and so we do uh we're the with the face for the small business lending and in connecticut and then uh over a half a million dollars up uh above and beyond that but uh like tom said we are taking we're taking applications in both hartford county and tollen county for new ppp loans for people that haven't been customer over ours and if anybody does have a question you know how to get the process started they can reach out to one of our four branches in the state which is in granby and enfield in west hartford and in bloomfield the new our new uh branch in bloomfield right in capaco you can reach out to anybody there and they'll know what to do they'll take the information that they need in order if you just tell them that you're looking for a ppp loan they'll take the information that they need they'll forward it on to tom's group tom will get it set up and then the the uh the applicant can access our portal and get the process going and i'll just echo what what uh steve said and tom said it i think probably the biggest takeaway is to talk with your accountant talk with your lawyers and make sure you have all the supporting documentation to facilitate the application it's really critical and it will make it smoother and you know lean on them that's what they're there for and then the process will i think run a lot better if you really kind of reach out to them but similar to what tom said if anybody has any questions they can reach out and we'll help as best we can so and uh we're very happy to you know be a part of this thanks for this opportunity with chamber and um i'll turn it back to you and uh any questions that come through that we can answer uh we'll be you know happy to do so great thank you so much thank you everyone um you know as a chamber executive and some of the things or the questions and comments that we hear from small businesses in the area um there's a lot of anxiety a lot of intimidation because the process sometimes seems so daunting um you know so for example that may be one of the reasons why a small business may hesitate or decide not to apply um can you talk a little bit about that and what makes the process different this time and any of you can answer this question yeah um i i can go if you don't mind um i think what's important for each small business owner is to know the state of your affairs to know what's going on in your business so important um the forms the process is easy to do it's just a lot of times right now with what's going on with the pandemic most small business owners are wearing multiple hats so therefore it prohibits them from the intensive detail because they're doing so much more with so much less they don't have the same staffing they don't have the same opportunities and and so that can put a burden upon the small business owner but just working with your bank your bank like todd said like tom said we're a community bank or the largest community bank in connecticut um we've got over 60 branches we're available to sit down and talk about what you want to do why you want to do it and how are you going to get there and i always say when you work with your banker your cpa your attorney it's like you're the quarterback but we're the backfield that gets you down the field we're going to assist you in making sure that you have everything in order so it's reaching out to your bank reach out to your cpa and talk and then just fill up the forms i think that's one of the conc rns that i've seen and i've worked with a lot of customers who have made applications and they're waiting for approvals or they have questions a lot of times i'm finding that they didn't fill the form out completely they put see attached they they uh didn't complete a box and when you're dealing with um the sba you have to make sure that every question is answered if there's nothing to put there at least address n a at least address that you have seen that box that question and you've addressed it those are some of the little things that impede the process from going forward and then again just making sure that you supply all the right documentation your payroll information your 940s 940 ones you make sure that you do your calculations properly two and a half times your payroll or three and a half times if you're in the food service accommodation business making sure that you really make sure that all your numbers are in line that you have the supporting documentation when you do that it makes it so much easier and then don't be afraid to reach out to your banker your banker is your friend your banker is there to help you to assist you and i see some people smiling we really are your friends we want to be your friends we want to work with you and uh you're a part of our family and we're a part of your family one part of the family does well the whole family does well so use your banker talk to us and it's it's a a confusing time right now it's a busy time right now but the more you talk to the people that you need to the easier the process is going to be so we at liberty bank are there we're available um we're out in the market we're in northern mass we're in all of connecticut we're in uh new york or rhode island we're growing so we're available we've got a small business banking department that can assist you for those small requests and then i'm in the commercial department middle market department so we can handle little time business wherever you are whatever your stage is just reach out to us and like todd said and like tom said we want to work with you can i hop in here for a minute vera um just because i want to put my other hat on i work with goldman and york and i work with the town um you know working with the small businesses but i have another hat that i wear and that is that i've been a small business owner with my husband for 35 years and i will tell you when the first round of ppp came out um there was a lot of uncertainties for businesses especially not knowing when you were going to open back up and there was a time frame on that so his business he held off on applying for the first round of ppp he did the second round of ppt ppp and i will tell you it was amazing how easy it was to go through the process this time and it was it was quick like you said within a week he had his funding done and it was a matter of filling out the application initially 25 30 times on the application but you know it was funded back and forth you know you knew what was going on through emails and sba approval funded within a week so it really is easy for businesses and i know someone that just went through the second round ppp it was a little bit longer for them to get their approval but it was done very easy so any small businesses out there right now i would recommend that they do it yeah great thank you denise um senator mccrory can you please tell us um when is the deadline so the program is march 31st um of of this year uh from my understanding and there might be a re-up after that but actually this the ppe program ends on uh march 31st so all the small businesses have to get their applications and all their information by march 31st and there's also i don't know what the bankers spoke about there are some specific special programs for communities that have been hit that's extra hard by um this kobe 19 and one of the programs they have is called i idle program and it's targeted a program there's ten thousand dollars that um a small business can receive um and therefore that's why because of these things and again and i have this information from sba because i met with them earlier today i'm gonna i'm really i'm gonna do a town hall early march uh to get this information out what i'm finding a lot is small businesses do not who do not have a banking relationship with some of our commercial banks um they're still having a difficult time um accessing these ppe dollars and what they don't know there are some resources out there for them um you have the um women's business development centers that are helping um individuals get their ppe uh applications in you have score you have sama you have bba so i'm finding that even though this information been out here this is almost a year the second time around there's still a lot of small businesses that are not aware of the opportunity that presents itself so um i'm going to be working with them to get that information out to these smaller businesses who are not familiar who have heard about it or kind of was resistant because they probably didn't get the first time around because let's be honest the first time around small really small quote-unquote small business um got to show every stick um but from my understanding this time around things has changed a little bit um and the process is a lot easier especially for those those on businesses who are uh do not have relationships with commercial banks so can i uh jump in for a quick second i'm sorry that i was late as jumping off another zoom to get on top of this room so i thank you for everyone for being here so i'm going to ask to our state representative or our state senator um you just brought up a good point there's a lot of services out there that one our small businesses don't know about and two how can they one get the information for the services into the banks that the relationship that they don't have um how can we help to bridge that gap or is there anything that we can do um and i'm directing that to both our state senator and then to our state back okay i'm sorry what happened i'm like i'm on you you were you're okay okay i don't see myself oh i was i'm saying um i think your camera flipped or something i think that's going to have my camera flip what is wrong i figured i'll figure that out later let me just take it off so anyway um i was saying i was saying um right before you got on that um early sometime early march i'm gonna have a town hall conversation town hall group conversation and getting the information out to our small businesses especially those small businesses like i said that do not have a banking relationship the ones that have a banking relationship the banks are already reaching out to them they already they're fine but like i said many of our small businesses do not have this banking relationship so i'm going to get that information out to the community and have a teletime home conversation because like i said there are organizations like bba sama score um the women's business center even the university of hartford have a program that are helping um small businesses go through the process this time around is like likely the banker's been saying it's much easier but i what i'm finding a great deal with just the lack of information to many small businesses who do not know about this opportunity or who have heard about the opportunity wasn't successful the first time and just giving up on it or her opportunity but join you know small business like i said a lot of small business operators are wearing two or three different hats and they're just too busy they know they need the resources but they're just too busy to go after applications so these organizations will be on at that uh teletub conversation and they'll be able to get information out to public so madam mayor that's a good question and especially in these times of cobit communication is very difficult everyone doesn't have access to computers and technology at the right time so um it's going to take a partnership i think all of us um senator mccrory's idea of having a teletown hall is fantastic i send out actually daily um e-blasts to all of my constituents and i have a pretty strong social media presence so um i think through um technology as far as sending out e-blasts making sure that we share the information share a common um message and using social media i think that's what we're gonna have to do because i'm not sure who it was maybe it was um stephen but um it can be kind of daunting um for some businesses and applying for a loan no one wants to get in debt in times of uncertainty um no one wants to take out a loan no one wants to um you know go through those things so i think if we get the message out that um the help is there um and things are different than it was before the first draw i think it's um something that we can do together um and thank you for actually having this um vera because i think this is in in that america this is a good first step so i know that some of the people that would have liked to have been on here are restaurant owners right and they're so focused on trying to get themselves together for whatever business they have coming on later on that they're not going to be able to get it and i know that i did hear you senator when you first said it but i wanted i wanted it to be repeated again because some of the people that's going to need to have the information probably won't be able to join your tele town hall but at least we have this information it's being recorded and i know that denise can also put together a list of places that can provide assistance i know that jose has worked with the people at the university of hartford before for some of our small businesses here in bloomfield so maybe we need to do something a little bit different with that as well probably have them come to a certain um location where they can have business hours or pass out their phone numbers to our business owners so that they can call them and inquire and and find out what they need to be able to apply for these ppps i know uh senator mccrory said that the program ends on march 31st my fear is that people will get the information one they'll probably sit on it because they don't have time to do it and then that time will pass so that was the the um the reason why i asked you to reiterate the the organizations that are out there ready to help and once again to jose and denise we probably need to be a little bit more strategic with the organization at the university of hartford whether they come into the human services building or something to be able to provide support so that we don't lose this round of ppe for our small and minority businesses thank you very muted thank you mayor i really appreciate your being here today and so i'll leave you to i wanted you to do the welcome but if at the end if you don't mind bringing closing remarks i'd appreciate that as well too so thank you i'd like to open the uh you might have a specific question for any of our representatives um jose has his hand raised okay thank you just to let everyone know we have attendees uh the way the webinar was set up it was they're usually muted till we allow them to talk i've just turned everybody's permission um to talk on and if they want to raise if they want to uh just there's a razor hand feature that you can use if you have a specific question so i just want to let the attendees know that and that looks right away we have a something from camille fisher so okay okay and you certainly again can uh put your question in the q a so it looks like we have a question from camille yes good afternoon everyone how are you hope everyone is doing well and staying safe um my i actually was um successful in getting um the ppv the first uh the first round um i actually own a home care agency um and because right now one of the restrictions for the second round is because you have to have experienced a 25 um decrease in revenue um it's a little tough for me and a few other people that i spoke with um because what we because of what we do we're on the front line we have had to pay numerous um employees who we've asked to stay out because they have a corona or been in contact with someone with the corona we have to also um have been purchased a ton of um ppe to give these individuals i know the time was given it out but i unfortunately was not on the list until the last distribution um i got some ppe but the all the other times i was just buying them so i can sustain my business with what whatever money we come in come in from our clients and everything what i am afraid of is if i'm not able to get this part um the second part and having to now um continue to pay individuals who are not working plus the individuals who are working i don't know how long that's going to go on for and for me that's a little bit of a stress um and i don't know if anybody else is that's on the line is experiencing a similar situation or can anyone talk to it or you know just some advice like i said being able to i can sustain with what we bring in and you know are revolving revenue and all of that it's just that if i have to continue paying those that are not working it's a stressor would anyone like to answer that question i would i would just say yeah um i would say and i'll out if you reach out to me i'll get the information i think you should have a comment because you're absolutely right you have to show that you have a drop in a revenue or your profits by 25 in order to use the security loan which in your case you're not doing that but you're worried about the future i will reach out to the small business administration and they're going to be on when i have this this teletown all kind of conversation because there are some programs specifically targeted um for situations like that like i said about the ideal program so i would suggest if you want to reach out beforehand reach out to the sba um they have a hartford office i think they're on tremble street um kathryn marx is the um young lady that runs it or you can just wait till i have my telecom conference but if i was you i'll reach out to them early to see what other programs or what other opportunities out there because it's not just ppp money or resources you can go after but the other half they have also have other programs that's federally funded that are grants that you can go after awesome you know something else i want to i want to mention there were there was a grant program not too long ago that was giving out five thousand dollar grants to businesses specifically minority and women-owned businesses um a lot of people hadn't heard back from those um and it was because people hadn't filled out the applications properly but you can call and check up on that to see if you you know were awarded that grant also um they did extend the idle loan program through sba through the end of 2021 now okay thank you very much for that information and before we end the program today we are and we will share a list of the resources that are available to all businesses so as we continue the conversation please know that we will have that and the presentation will make sure that it's available on our website as well as the town of bloomfield website more questions please it looks like michelle do you have a question i do my question is either for steven vaughn or denise robideaux being that both of you have certainly seemed to pay a lot of attention to the user friendliness of this process and i know that goes a long way toward helping people address um fears and intimidation about paperwork so what i would like to ask you just on their behalf is um how many pages of information are required in the application number one and number two is the process all online to make the process simpler i get i'll go first to these i can't speak for every bank but for most banks most banks have created an application process through their own website and it will be a dedicated portal where you will go in register uh and the forms will come up so you'll have an application form uh ours happens to be like five pages where you put in information you hit next but there's more information hit next and it just walks you through it's a one right system so as you're logging in and entering data it is then completing the three forms usually three forms that you're going to end up having to sign so once you complete those forms complete the data the forms will then come up they'll ask you to sign those forms you can electronically sign them and then press submit and depending on each whichever bank you're dealing with the loan will go through and it will ask for you to upload supplementary documentation um like invoices of your rent or your mortgage that you want to include uh in that calculation that supports the calculation that you've given your 940 forms your 941 forms which 941 forms are your quarterly payroll calculations and data so you'll support that if you don't have that information many of the payroll services will give you a report for a certain period of time that you repeat and banks will utilize that information so uh once you upload that information to the system then you will you will submit it you should get something from the system that says your application is complete it has been submitted and you'll receive a confirmation then it's always good to go back into the portal periodically just to see if you've received any updates if you've received any email notices or if there was something missing usually within those portals of the respective banks you'll receive that information and that way you can complete it and then if worse comes to worse i definitely encourage you to call your branch call your commercial bank or if you don't have a designated commercial banker call the branch manager most banks have trained their branches to assist all ppp customers and they can research where your application is what the process and really the process is the bank reviews the documentation affirms the documentation submits it to sba sba then approves it and like tom said then the loans are funded so that's usually the process denise i'll i'll let you add it was it was extremely easy we went through a different bank and the application itself was four pages the first page was filling out you know financial information and you did the calculations for the 2.5 times your payroll um the second page was just answering and initialing a lot of um questions about your business um and then we had to give them our 940 ones for um 2019 because obviously it hadn't you know we hadn't finalized all of 2020 and like i said step-by-step process emails extremely easy so well thank you so much only because it doesn't sound like the process is either exotic or scarier than anything that businesses are doing already in some other venues or opportunities so i'm sure that those explanations will be appreciated by those who are thinking about making application and i certainly hope they will thank you both thank you michelle um i have a question here and it is regarding the ppp loan forgiveness how and when can i apply for loan forgiveness okay i'll answer again on the first draw loans that are made eligible to the borrowers you can apply for forgiveness anywhere between the eighth week or the 24th week following your loan disbursement so once you've received the funds uh eight weeks and then they extended it uh during the process to give people more time to uh complete the information that's necessary and each bank again has a process of completing an application for forgiveness it's presenting that information usually they're looking for employee and compensation levels that they've been maintained they're looking at the loan proceeds were spent on payroll costs and eligible expenses and usually at least 60 percent of those proceeds were spent on payroll those usually are the the buzz buzzwords or or the banks we'll look at and then it's very easy your alarm will be forgiven and you'll get a letter from the bank or an email or something saying that your your your p2p loan was forgiven thank you this is this is tom from westfield bank i'll just add on to what steve said uh most banks as well have an automated system and we at westfield bank uh have the same automated system and the ease that we've been talking about on the front end applying also exists on the back end for forgiveness one common uh comment that i get from a lot of customers is well we just thought it was automatically going away in other words we just uh assumed that the loan was we did all the front end piece and got it all approved and got the disbursement but we just thought it would go away and while it does through the forgiveness process uh i guess i want to just say that you still need to do a a process you have to go through the forgiveness process which is an application it is less pages than what uh both steve and i had talked about which there it's it's four to five pages at most banks on the approve on the uh approval process but a forgiveness process it's a little bit less uh and you do have to upload a couple of documents as well but you do have to go through the process so be sure that you contact your bank uh if it was our bank once again if we're very automated you you you literally put in a few pieces of information upload it and then the forgiveness process happens uh as it goes through to the sba uh the sba does take and this is something that borrowers get a little confused i think the bank is slowing it down but there the sba does review the forgiveness applications and their commitment has been 90 days from the time that the bank submits it to them for them to render the final decision and as steve said you'd get a correspondence from the bank letting you know or at sba actually and you know that it was forgiven or if a part wasn't forgiven the explanation will be there so i do want to just encourage people to not forget that there is a forgiveness process and you have to go through whatever bank you went through uh and follow the steps that they've that they've offered uh and again most of us are all i made and the system goes pretty quickly uh the sba i i've seen them running very i don't know about steve but about 90 days right now on our end for answers back and i know everybody gets anxious why haven't i heard back yet uh well there's a tremendous backlog nationwide to get these loans looked at and forgiven and some do just tend to the smaller ones i think might see them going through quick more quickly than the larger loans uh that that there is cutoffs that the government through sba is looking at more specifically on the docks that you've provided and i think really the million dollars to two million dollar range is where they tend to take a little bit more time in their review process on the forgiveness side but i would definitely encourage you to follow up every every small business owner just to be sure that uh you've completed the process uh which at the end of it is is the forgiveness uh process so um i hope that kind of clarifies a little bit more because i know what you see but we receive a lot oh i just thought it went away and well it kind of does but you do have to go through the process yeah and and and just to piggyback behind tom and i'm glad he said that because if you do not request forgiveness after 10 months of that last day covered then you it cannot be it won't be deferred and you'll have to start making payments so you want to make sure that you know you do apply for that forgiveness and what's nice what the sba has done is if your loan was under 150 000 it's more of a fast track program than if it was above 150 000 so uh you definitely like tom said you definitely want to do the application it's much easier like tom said and uh you know we're seeing many people i've i've not had one person come to me and say that it wasn't forgiven thank you uh this next question is for representative gibson and senator mccrory uh last time i'm paraphrasing last time the monies ran out and and senator mccrory you talked about you just recently had a meeting with sba um so is are people or should we should businesses be concerned that the money will run out well i will always be concerned about money running out but i would say that uh get your get your pr get your application in early yes the deadline is march 31st i've been told um i was told that so far in the state of connecticut um there has been a request from all small businesses of over 1.7 billion dollars from connecticut uh alone i think this program is about i think the federal government is putting out nationwide i think it's selling the neighborhood of 500 billion dollars but connecticut have already put in for at least from our small businesses 1.7 billion dollars for the second time around last year last year i think we did about 1.5 billion dollars a year for business in connecticut so my question would be my concern with my response would be get your application from early so you won't be the last one i don't think the dollars are going to run out but you never know you never know because all the money is coming from washington i would have to repeat what tom central um the sooner you get your money in i'm assuming you can help yourself right and who knows i mean the money could stay there the money could run out there is federal money coming in the form of over-relief funds um us as legislators we're going to have to try to put our heads together to see how we can best use that and there's going to be monies coming to towns and towns are going to be able to have access to funds to be able to help small businesses as well um but that's down the road and from the sound of your voice that you may need now so i will say go ahead and time is of the effort and get it done thank you more questions please the floor is open we definitely want to make sure that we're getting your questions answered today and if any of our presenters would like to chime in or if there's things that we did not mention yet um we welcome we welcome you making those comments as well too so let's talk a little bit about other businesses so we you know we we know that bloomfield is made up of not just restaurants and and shops but we also know there are a lot of people that are working from home um working remotely and can we talk a little bit about that as well too let's say that i am a relatively new entrepreneur i um maybe i do let's say meditation or maybe i do home health care and i'm taking care of um you know i'm taking care of business from from my own home can i apply as well too yeah it doesn't matter where the location of your business is if it's home or if it's in a rented space or if it's in an owned space separate from your home your business is your business and as long as you've got the supporting documents based on your revenue and based on the decrease that we talked about earlier you can apply and it doesn't matter where your business is it matters the type of business because again this second round uh they they sort of streamline the process and that's why we're seeing a smaller volume than we did in the first round uh but again you you consult sba.gov to be sure that your business qualifies um if you're experiencing that drop in sales you're that's really one of the first qualification steps uh and there's absolutely no reason why you couldn't uh apply uh through the portal that your bank offers or uh one of the bank one of our event liberty or westfield bank we both have our pro our process is very similar to what uh steve talked about for liberty and just you go ahead and make your application so it's not there's no strings attached there's nothing that you have to worry about because you're working from home that that's not even one of the questions so you'll be you'll be fine when you go through the application great just to add you could be a sole proprietor you can be an independent contractor you could be let's say you sell insurance and you're an independent contractor for an insurance agent or a realtor uh independent contractor you can apply and and receive ppp funds because your business was affected so uh as long as you have the documentation any self-employed uh person can apply great yeah your business entity doesn't matter how you're structured like steve said it can be a sole proprietor partnership uh s corp c corp llc any of the above all of the above it doesn't matter again it goes back to qualifications and the business i mean it goes without saying that the business has to be a legal business uh duly authorized to conduct business in in say bloomfield or any other town for that matter uh with a business certificate or be registered with the secretary of state if it's a corporation so uh that that is important because those are reasons that at the other end the sba can kick out the application um another one i've seen i'm sure steve as well uh if if ever there was a default uh made on either a government loan not necessarily an sba loan but maybe an old student loan and or maybe uh some other type of loan you may have received on a different business but it's under your social or ten uh they they may pick that up and that might be a reason to disqualify however there is a way that you can through the banks again like steve said talk to your banker we can submit justification uh back and maybe get that get that decision overruled um but so you just have to be mindful of the things that could get kicked out as the process continues uh but the type of business as long as it's a legal entity on the way in uh should have no problem applying applying for the loan that's a great point to mention you know that it's not so much the type but making sure that um that you're aware of all of your finances right so you know you know and you're very comfortable talking about discussing your financial history because a lot of times that may not people may not be that comfortable with it um but again if you're establishing these types of relationships with your banker and if you haven't so far you know we've got banks right here in our own community that are open and willing and desire to work with all of our small businesses so that's um thank you very much for pointing that out gentlemen i we do appreciate that um so i'm going to i don't see any more questions uh and we are at almost at the four o'clock mart so let me share my screen again to talk about some other resources that are available to all of our businesses so thankfully for bloomfield thankfully for on behalf of the bloomfield social youth services for the town of bloomfield they created a covet 19 community resource guide um i hope all of you can see that if you can please nod your head they create a qr code so that way if you aim your uh your smartphone at the screen you'll be able to gain access to that pdf it is a very extensive comprehensive all-in-one guide providing you resources on general information on cova 19 including restrictions and testing and a host of other information so please by all means take advantage of that guide because it is very very useful and again thank you very much to the bloomfield social youth services department for doing a yeoman's job in creating that document and thank you very much to camilla hillian who is the director of social youth services for getting this this information for this program in addition here are some additional business resources for all of all of our businesses and community members to take advantage of this list is available not only on the bloomfield chamber website but it is available through the town of bloomfield's website and it gives you direct access to all of these websites and there's again a host of information that would be beneficial to all of our small businesses as well as sole proprietorships and entrepreneurs so i'd like to take this time to ask all of our presenters to just give us some final thoughts um and what businesses should know as we leave this program what should be their primary takeaway that they can have so some negative information or you know some uh um a golden rule that you'd like them to you know leave with and i'll start with you senator mccrory i think i've talked enough already well i'll just say um look forward i'll get information about why the teleco town hall conversation we're gonna have early march i'll definitely reach out to the bluefield chamber of commerce so you can help promote it uh make sure you um get on board tell a frie d um and let's get this information out to the people that need it and go after these resources they're available um they're for you your taxpayers just like everyone let's take advantage of this opportunity don't let it get by so thank you very very much and thanks for having me again thank you representative gibson um thanks again for having me on um it's always a pleasure to speak to constituents and and um i am so impressed with all of our banks and bankers you guys gave a wealth of information today outstanding job we have great banks here in the town of bloomfield um and to the rest of the constituents i would just say as senator mccrory said just um go ahead and apply and um search them for for information um senator mccrory's gonna have his form um please uh reach out to my office you can go on my website and um you can sign up for my email blast i'm gonna definitely um update something and put something together and send out constituents about what we talked about today um as well as social media and um mayor uh and jose and vera and um everyone camilla let's continue to work as a team to make sure that we get this information out and thank you for having us and again bankers great job thank you liberty bank stephen i want to thank all of you that participated i want to thank the chamber for setting this up and jose uh thomas bloomfield the mayor uh all the representatives that have supported uh it is just awesome that we can come together uh what i would say to to businesses is there's a verse that says no man is an island during this time build a network because many of the things that you're dealing with and and coming against other people are dealing with also and they may have come up with strategies and ideas how to market how to get and garner supplies how to um set up new delivery services however whatever the problems you're having in business share your experience talk to other people and build a network remember your banker is your friend your banker is there to help you please utilize it i'd use this analogy your banker and your cpa is like your doctor what won't you tell your doctor if you have a problem tell your banker tell your cpa let them know what you need and let them let them do their job and help you and stay positive because we're moving through this things are getting better there's light at the end of the tunnel and if we all work together we'll come out of this and we'll be very successful thank you so much stephen mom and todd um i vera and everybody i just kind of add on to what steve said uh just to kind of reinforce that using the professionals that are if you know that you have your accountant your lawyer it's very very important and i will say that just like everybody last year it was a totally new process for everybody it was a totally new process for the bankers it was a totally new process for the cpas and the accountants and so it was fraught and and difficult the last time you know and i think at this point in time your accountants your lawyers your bankers you know have a better grasp on on the whole situation and so use use them as as as help because they'll get you through this and they'll make it less you know difficult for you to get through the process and they're the professionals you know and they can get into detail if you have a question they can go down further and really root it out and really make sure that what you're going to be submitting and putting forth in your application and the like will be proper it will be correct and you won't have any problems on the back end which might be a concern to a lot of people you know that nobody wants to do something that you know gets them in a tougher spot so use use the people that you know can can help you and support you and then that will take that type of um you know kind of bad thought out of the mix and uh avail yourself of this uh of this help because we have seen a lot of people get helped by this and and get us through and hopefully we're getting closer to getting through this and um you know every every little bit helps so uh thank you for the chamber for letting us uh be a part of this and um hopefully this was helpful to the people listening thank you tom any final thoughts yeah todd pretty much said it all but uh i i always say when i'm dealing with my small business customers you always want to surround yourself by three important people your accountant your lawyer and oh yeah your friendly banker uh that's what i always suggest to my small business customers and you know from our point of view at our bank at westfield bank i mean we're new into the community actually not really that new anymore we've been there for a little bit of time now uh in in bloomfield and uh it's an absolutely gorgeous beautiful branch and i encourage anyone if you don't even want to talk business or small business at least pop in and grab a cup of coffee and take and check out our new branch out there in bloomfield uh it's absolutely gorgeous and state-of-the-art and uh we are we do have that team of bankers on our end of it and that third group of people i just mentioned available to help you right there in that bloomfield office and also in west hartford as well that's a stunning beautiful branch as well uh so come in and talk to us you'll get the advice you need the help you need you know we're going through it too we the the customers i have are businesses i frequent personally myself and i see the pain with the pandemic on on everyone that i come in contact with restaurants especially um and anything we can do from a banking perspective will do uh to help you through the process especially if you already have a along with us we we offer deferments and anything we can do to help get us all through this um you know pandemic that we're all kind of going through so uh i want to thank the chamber and everyone involved with this program because it's absolutely necessary for everyone to hear the things we talked about uh it's it's vital that the information is vital to all of us so i want to thank you especially for letting us westfield bank be part of it uh we're we're happy to be part of the community and we want to we want to show that by you know having to visit with you whenever you have a chance to stop by and talk with us and uh we'll certainly step up and do everything we can to assist to assist you and and hopefully like someone said earlier get us get all us through the process awesome thank you so much and last but never certainly please um i'd like to open up the floor to mayor to beatham brown to give us her final and closing remarks and again thank you so much to everyone that participated today particularly from the town of bloomfield the economic recovery um committee and um again this was a joint effort and we could not have done any of this without them so mayor suzette thank you so much um such good information i'd like to thank senator mccrory and state rep gibson for being here thank you to uh liberty and westfield bank for being here um thank you to our recovery coordinators vera smith and michelle benoni and camilla and denise and jose i think it's so important to be able to provide information for our community um our businesses and our families now we're almost a year into what we thought would have lasted only months um but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a freight train and that's the great thing um being able to help us recover whether it's families in need of services or businesses in needs of financing and services i am glad that the town have a committee together that can provide that information and that we have a wealth of resources we have our state senator and our state representative who is going to be fighting for us and who's going to be fighting for those uh financial resources to come into our towns that we can provide assistance to our residents and our business owners so i'm grateful for that i'm also grateful that we have banks that are open um to small businesses if they don't yet have a relationship they're open to to form a relationship to help you to be able to be successful and that's what we want to be able to do come out of this um and truly recover and when you recover something you're getting back what was taken from you and we're hoping that our families and our businesses will recover because once they recover the town itself will recover and prosper and that's our only desire so i'm grateful for all of those who took the time to attend today i know that this is being recorded so that we will put it on our facebook uh we'll put it on youtube but please if you have a need please contact the town of bloomfield please contact social and youth services please contact your our chamber of commerce contact our state senator and our state representative yes i did put them out there because we're all here to serve you once again you succeed we all succeed so once again thank you for your time and thank you for the wonderful information the needful information um about this ppp loan as a state senator and state rep said get your applications in don't wait until the 31st um i think sometimes it's who gets in line first um make sure that you're in line and if you need any kind of assistance at all filling out paperwork once again please call the town please call the chamber please call the banks and you will be helped that's our desire here and that's our purpose so thank you for your time energy information and effort on behalf of the town council and the entire town of bloomfield thank you so much everyone have a great afternoon and a great weekend thank you thank you