A flood of applications for the Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan program, which launched just yesterday, resulted in the Department of Economic and Community Development announcing this afternoon that, as of 6 p.m. today, it would stop accepting applications.
But that action will be temporary, according to DECD Commissioner David Lehman.
“We have seen significant demand for the program, receiving over 4,000 applications since the program went operational yesterday morning,” Lehman said. “Within the last 24 hours, DECD, along with our partner Connecticut Innovations, has added additional staff to process applications for this loan program. In addition, we are doubling the funding in the program to $50 million.
“We feel it is prudent to hit pause and stop taking more applications right now to ensure we can process the current queue efficiently and get this much needed money out the door as quickly as possible,” he continued. “We want to be fair to all applicants and taking more requests would not be right.”
Lehman encouraged businesses to apply for Small Business Administration disaster assistance loans here; to learn about Connecticut”™s business resources on the state”™s coronavirus website; and to access details on the forthcoming federal stimulus, which will provide direct assistance to small business and individuals, here.
Andrew Markowski, Connecticut State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said that, “No one should be surprised that the demand for a program like that is high. Small business owners need cash right now. We agree that the applications need to get processed quickly and the money sent out as soon as possible.”
