Getting the $350 billion in loans for small businesses in the record U.S. stimulus package into business owners’ hands before a wave of closures will strain the nation’s network of lenders and regulators as never before.
“We’re all on the same telephone calls determining how we can stand this up as quickly as possible,” said said Julie Huston, chairwoman of The National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, a trade association of banks and finance companies that make SBA loans. Without estimating how quickly money will flow to businesses, she said: “They’re designing it to be very quick.”