Area banks working to stem virus crisis
By Jerry W. Kram
The COVID-19 epidemic has struck small businesses and their employees hard. The crisis has forced the federal government to make it possible to keep workers on the payroll even though the businesses are closed by the epidemic, and the Small Business Administration is working through local banks to make that happen.
Cornerstone Bank of New Town and Parshall is an SBA lender and is helping area businesses take advantage of funding created by the CARES Act that passed Congress earlier this month. The act authorized nearly $350 billion for small businesses to keep workers in the payroll. The money for that program was exhausted in just a few weeks, but the Senate passed a bill authorizing another quarter trillion dollars on Tuesday and the House of Representatives is expected to approve it later this week.
“The SBA has asked the banks to be involved because the sheer workload is so immense,” said Jeff Reiter, Market President for Cornerstone Bank in New Town. “The need for speed to get these funds out there fast required the help of the lenders. We are quite heavily involved in making this money available in our areas.”
Overall, Cornerstone Bank has made 441 loans under the Payroll Protection Program totalling $87 million. The New Town and Parshall banks have made a total of 41 loans totaling $5.6 million. Reiter said more than a dozen applications are “waiting in the wings” for Congress to replenish funding for the program.
