The Paycheck Protection Program

- Hey everybody! Drew McLellan here from Agency Management Institute. This week, again, I am coming to you from home. And this week, we are in my home office. I want to talk to you about the Care Act that was just passed late last week, because I think taking fast, early action on this is going to be critical for you and your agency. So if you're not familiar, one of the key components of the Care Act, which is like a $2 trillion relief bill, but one of things that is most critical to us as business owners is the Paycheck Protection Program. And, basically, what that part of the act does is it grants funds for businesses that have been affected by the virus like everybody has, or almost everyone has. And what it's going to do is it's going to give you a forgivable loan. Let me say that again, a forgivable loan at about a 4% interest rate, and that's still being decided, the interest rate, but, nonetheless, a low interest rate. And what that loan is for is for you to have a couple months of resource to make payroll... So it's to cover all your loaded payroll including benefits, utilities, rent, or your mortgage payment on your building if you own it. It's going to cover your W2 employees. There's a provision for your 1099 folks. And so, this is a critical thing for you to know about. But, it just came out, the source of the loans are going to be any FDIC insured bank or federally insured credit union that is a 7 lender. So here's what you need to do. You need to reach out. Hopefully, all of you have a great relationship with a banker. If you don't, post-virus, this is a key thing on your to-do list. But I want you to reach out to your banker and say, "What do I need to do to get in the front of the line to apply for this Paycheck Protection Program loan?" And we've got some resources on our website, so go to AgencyManagmentInstitute.com/covid, and you will find all kinds of resources, but under the resources for this week, there are some samples of what banks are asking their clients to gather up to apply for this loan. So your bank may ask for something different, but this, at least, will give you a head start. But there's only so many funds, and you can imagine how many businesses are going to be applying for this loan, so this is not something to dilly or dally around with. I want you to get out there. I want you to get that loan as quickly as you can, or, at least, start having conversations with your banker about as soon as they're ready to take applications, you are ready to file one, okay? So head to the website, download that resource. We're not capturing email addresses. We're not sending you drip campaigns. I just want you to have these resources. But call your banker. Text your banker. If you can't get through, and you are not locked into a shelter in place state, write your banker a note, and hand it to the drive through window. Do anything you can to get on your banker's radar screen, so that you are first in line to get this huge opportunity to not have to lay people off, to not have to furlough people, but instead for you guys to keep working, keep building your relationships with your clients, keep working on internal assets that are going to help you come out of this stronger, faster, better, and also protect your people's jobs, okay? Get on this right now. I'll talk to you next week.