Chattanooga companies told to move slowly in seeking COVID-19 aid forgiveness

Staff file photo / Kaleena Goldsworthy, owner of The Bitter Bottle, has used a combination of local and federal loans and a grant to keep her new business afloat during the pandemic. Staff file photo / Kaleena Goldsworthy, owner of The Bitter Bottle, has used a combination of local and federal loans and a grant to keep her new business afloat during the pandemic.

By Mary Fortune August 5, 2020 4 min read

As the application period ends for small businesses seeking cash from the $650 billion Payroll Protection Program and the loan forgiveness process opens, local bankers have some advice: Don’t get in a hurry.

“We most likely will go live on Monday, but we’re going to encourage our customers to take their time to apply for forgiveness,” said Jay Dale, market president for First Horizon in Chattanooga. “There’s no rush.”

Applications for the federal program officially close this week, though many banks – including First Horizon – have already cut off the process to give them time to push through the last applications before the Saturday deadline. And though the forgiveness applications can begin Monday, federal lawmakers haven’t sorted out the final details just yet.

“New guidance is coming all the time, and that’s assuming legislation doesn’t come out and change it even more,” said Colin Barrett, president of the Tennessee Bankers Association.