WASHINGTON—A new survey of small business owners seeking help through the Paycheck Protection Program shows only one in five have been successful.
The new statistics from the National Federation of Independent Business show the remaining respondents still are waiting on word regarding their applications.
Many, the trade group said, have no idea about their application's status.
"Small businesses were prepared and ready to apply for these programs, the only financial support options for most, and it is very frustrating that the majority of these true small businesses haven't received their loan yet," Holly Wade, NFIB director of research and policy analysis, said in a statement.
A total of 40 percent of small business owners applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan through the Small Business Administration website. And 77 percent of those applicants sought the emergency grant of up to $10,000, the survey said.
About 10 percent of those seeking EIDL emergency grant money received funds, and essentially "all of the EIDL applicants have yet to receive the loan," the trade group reported.
NFIB also is urging the federal government to release more help for small business as the initial $349 billion PPP program already has run out of money.
PPP is designed to provide loans to help employers keep workers on their payrolls for eight weeks, providing cash for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities. Loans can be forgiven if the money is used according to program guidelines, which include maintaining employee and compensation levels.
A staggering three-quarters of all small business owners are seeking PPP loans to help them weather the COVID-19 storm that has knocked the economy out of commission in many areas. And those taking the survey believe it will be awhile before the economy returns to where it was before the cornavirus.
The NFIB survey also indicates about a third of respondents believe the economy will return to normal by the end of the year. Of those, 11 percent who believe life will improve by July and 21 percent who believe by December. A
Meanwhile, 39 percent believe that normalcy will not return until next year.
NFIB said that 24 percent of those surveyed believe the economy will not recover until at least 2022, and another 4 percent said they do not expect the economy will return to near pre-crisis levels until after 2024.
The email survey was conducting using a random sample of the NFIB member database. A total of 885 usable responses were received. Of the respondents, 14 percent are in construction, 14 percent in manufacturing and mining, 6 percent in transportation, communication and public utilities, 5 percent in wholesale, 20 percent in retail, 5 percent in agriculture, 6 percent in financial, insurance and real estate, and 22 percent in a service industry, which includes auto repair.