Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

Farmgirl Flowers CEO on how the PPP “failed” businesses like hers

Apr 27, 2020
The direct-to-consumer flower company founder said the Paycheck Protection Program failed the small companies it was meant to protect.
Farmgirl Flowers CEO Christina Stembel at one of the company's California distribution centers.
Courtesy of Farmgirl Flowers

Upper Midwest, Great Plains states have fared best in SBA emergency loan program

Apr 23, 2020
As Congress weighs a new round of funding, data reveal that the upper Midwest and Great Plains regions benefited the most from the first round of PPP funding.
With the coronavirus closing many businesses, the Paycheck Protection Program saved  millions of jobs that would have been lost, according to MIT research.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Breaking down the new COVID-19 relief bill

The nearly half-a-trillion dollar bill would replenish the program to help small businesses.
$310 billion goes toward loans for small businesses, the Paycheck Protection Program.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Life on the front lines of the federal government’s small business loan program

Apr 20, 2020
“For every loan we made, I had another one in the pipeline,” said Laurie Stewart, CEO of Sound Community Bank in Seattle.
Laurie Stewart, the head of Sound Community Bank in Seattle, says pressures to hold more capital will "impact our ability to serve clients and to be investable."
Courtesy Sound Community Bank

The small business loans program is basically out of cash. What's next?

There's concern that the hardest hit businesses aren't getting enough help.
There's bipartisan agreement over the fact that there should be more money available, but members of Congress are at odds on how to get it done.
Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

Small businesses uncertain about emergency loan applications

Apr 15, 2020
The Small Business Administration says over 1.3 million loan applications have been approved as of Wednesday. But many businesses whose loans have been approved haven’t yet seen any of the money.
Small businesses are still waiting on money from the Paycheck Protection Program.
Victor J. Blue/Getty Images