The U.S. Small Business Administration announced Wednesday that businesses and residents in eight additional counties plus the City of Radford are now eligible to apply for low-interest disaster loans to assist in disaster recovery.

After closing for about two months, an SBA loan helped pull Lia’s Hair Styling out of the hole for three months. “I wish more people would have gotten the loan, because I think it was really beneficial,” said Luanda Parrish, the manager. So far, SBA has approved $197 billion in low-interest loans for a variety of businesses and non-profits due to the pandemic. “It’s your baby, it’s your business,” George said. It’s really bad.”George’s business sprouted three months ago during the pandemic and said the loan saved her business.

HOUSTON – Joel Osteen, the pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, has come under fire in recent days after Houston Chronicle reported that the megachurch received $4.4 million in PPP loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA). Federal Paycheck Protection Program Loan data provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA) indicates that the loan given to Lakewood Church is the third-largest for any Houston-area business or nonprofit. The data shows that Lakewood Church applied for the loan on July 21 and that 368 jobs would be affected by the loan. In order to have the loan fully forgiven, the PPP loan must be used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. Osteen’s Lakewood Church and other megachurches have been criticized by some for taking part in the federal recovery program because of their tax-exempt status.

WASHINGTON After prodding from Democratic lawmakers, the Trump administration has agreed to give Congress but not the public complete data on the millions of small businesses that received loans from a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program. Their concession came with a warning to lawmakers not to divulge confidential loan information to the wider public. Last week, the Treasury Department and SBA relented to pressure from lawmakers and watchdogs and agreed to publicly disclose details on which businesses received loans under the program. Under the new agreement, the agencies will provide the complete data on loans of all sizes to the congressional oversight panels. Economists have said the small business loan program has helped, though its hard to know by how much.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks during a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing to examine implementation of Title I of the CARES Act, Wednesday, June 10, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mnuchin, testifying before the Senate Small Business Committee, said the administration plans to spend the next 30 days looking at what measures should go in the next relief bill. There is no question that small businesses in many industries will need more help, Mnuchin said. Small businesses and larger businesses are going to need more help.New support measures will need to encourage business owners to rehire workers, especially those in the hardest hit industries like restaurants and travel, he said. The applications require more paperwork from small businesses than the paycheck protection loans.