April 21, 2020

U.S. Small Business Administration Approves Nearly $65 million in Federal

Assistance for USVI Small Businesses in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U. S. Virgin Islands – The Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA) and the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center (VI SBDC) have confirmation from the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) that as of April 16, 2020, there are 240 approved Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications for the U.S. Virgin Islands totaling more than $62 million ($62,242,612). In addition, there has been 272 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance approvals totaling $1.3 million ($1,308,000) as of April 19, 2020.

As U.S. Congress finalizes legislation for additional appropriations funding for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and the Paycheck Protection Program, representatives from the U.S. SBA, VI SBDC and the VIEDA are urging small-business owners to get ready to quickly apply for federal financial assistance offered by these programs.

Small businesses can contact local SBA Lender Partner in the Territory to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (Bank of St. Croix, Merchants Commercial Bank, Oriental Bank, First Bank, Banco Popular).

Small-business owners can visit www.sba.gov/coronavirus for the most updated information on the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and other SBA Programs.

For technical assistance, call or email the VI SBDC at 340-693-1694 ext. 5104/ [email protected] or the VIEDA at 340-714-1700/ [email protected].

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About the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority:

The Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA) is a semi-autonomous governmental instrumentality. It promotes economic growth, job creation, and wealth generation in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The VIEDA assumes, integrates and unifies the functions of these four entities: Economic Development Commission, Virgin Islands Economic Development Park Corporation, Economic Development Bank and the Enterprise Zone Commission. The VIEDA accomplishes its mission by attracting investors to the Territory to establish or relocate their business in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It also provides financial assistance for new and existing small to medium-sized businesses in the Territory and assists V.I. residents and business owners with rehabilitating their properties located in distressed areas that were once vibrant economic centers of activity in the Territory. Learn more about the USVIEDA at www.usvieda.org or send an email to [email protected].