Morning Update - May 20

Give blood! Local loan and grant programs start to launch, PPP increases have a deadline

Good morning,

Just a quick update today to fill you in on a couple of things. I don’t have long to write because I’ve signed up to give blood this morning. The Red Cross is in dire need of blood donations as the effects of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders have led to canceled blood drives and kept donors away. You can sign up to give blood here. [Quick edit: before posting this, I’ve finished giving blood and am back at home. The process took less than an hour from start to finish and felt safe and professional. I highly recommend signing up to donate if you are an eligible donor!]

The information below is accurate to the best of my understanding as of 6 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20.

Local Small Business Relief Programs Begin to Launch

Portland, Westbrook, and the Greater Portland Council of Governments have all announced small, targeted relief funds for very small businesses that were not able to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program and other federal relief programs. On Thursday, May 21 at 3:00 p.m., there will be a webinar designed to provide local businesses with an overview of the different programs in the Greater Portland area and to provide an opportunity to ask questions. Register for the webinar here.

PPP Increases Available, But Window to Apply Is Narrow

As I noted on Monday, the U.S. Treasury issued new rules last week allowing banks to increase the PPP loan amounts for businesses that received loans before all of the loan calculation rules had been released. The window for applying for these increases is short and will require complete 2019 taxes, so if you were an early recipient of PPP and didn’t include owner compensation or the alternate seasonal calculation method when applying, get in touch with you lender (and tax accountant) right away. Changes in the forgiveness provisions of the PPP continue to seem likely to make their way through Congress in the next few weeks.

Weekly DECD Briefing to be Held Today

Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Heather Johnson will hold her weekly briefing today at 3:30. You can register here. I tune in to these briefings every week and have found them to be extremely useful. Attendees can ask questions through the Q&A feature in the video conference.

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We almost had a major crisis on our hands this morning. The coffee grinder was completely empty – NOT ONE BEAN IN IT – when I went to make coffee this morning. This is never ok, but during non-quarantine times, it would be easily remedied as I would simply drive to my favorite local coffee shop. (In fact, in non-quarantine times, I don’t drink coffee at home very often because I love to share a few minutes every morning sitting at the counter with the regulars at said favorite local coffee shop.) But these are quarantine times. So after rage-texting my husband (though it was probably me who made the last cup yesterday), I tore apart the kitchen cabinets and found two packets of very good instant coffee from said favorite local coffee shop, left over from a long ago camping trip. And so I drank said very good instant coffee. And it was good. And my morning (and my marriage) were saved. Let this be a lesson to you: always keep a back-up stash of coffee somewhere in your kitchen for emergencies.

Be well.

With love,

Heather

P.S. You can reach me at heather.sanborn@legislature.maine.gov. My inbox there is happily up-to-date. If you try to reach me in other ways (messenger, other email addresses), I will be less likely to respond! If you sent me an email (or contacted me another way) and want to check back in because you still haven’t had your unemployment issues resolved (and it’s been more than a few days), please just send me another email and I’ll try to get you an update!

P.P.S. You can subscribe to these updates at heathersanborn.substack.com.