Over the weekend President Donald Trump signed off on an extension of the deadline for small businesses to file for Small Business Administration assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program, moving the deadline until Aug. 8.
The program has so far distributed more than $500 billion in assistance, but confusion over how much of the awarded funds will be forgivable persists.
“The president wanted to do it right and make it simple, but the SBA did not make it simple for people at all,” business owner Zack Shalabi said.
Shalabi said his business in Haltom City received PPP money after a long, difficult process. But even then, he said, it turned out to not be enough and the rules surrounding the use of the money were less than clear.
“Clearly there will be more clarification, I think the program will continue to evolve,” SMU professor John Terry said.
Terry said he believed the stipulations and forgivability of PPP money need to be cleared up, but urged people not to lose sight of the good it has so far done.
“It has been tremendously valuable to business owners and the employment picture,” Terry said.
