As many of you have heard yesterday evening Congress passed new Pandemic Relief Package yesterday evening. This includes the inclusion of Chambers of Commerce in the Paycheck Protection Program. These are forgivable loans that will be made available. These will be administered through the Small Business Administration. As guidance becomes available we will share it with you. In the meantime, we encourage you (if you plan to apply) to reach out to a local banking member that has participated in the program and ask them how you should start to prepare.

Following are the basic qualifications as currently released:

1. You are not a professional sports league or organized for the purpose of promoting or participating in a political campaign (Note: this will not impact chambers of commerce or trade associations);
2. Your chamber does not employ more than 300 employees;
3. Your chamber does not receive more than 15% of their receipts from lobbying activities;
4. Lobbying activities do not compromise more than 15% of your organization’s total activities; and

The cost of lobbying activities of the organization did not exceed $1,000,000 during the most recent tax year that ended prior to February 15, 2020.

Click here to view the bill text.