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Oversight office releases requirements for small business assistance

ARPA logo
Businesses must quantify negative impact of COVID on their operations
reporters@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The ASG Oversight Office of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) released late last week funding requirements under the federal ARPA Business Loan Program, for which $10 million has been allocated by the Lemanu Administration to help small businesses impacted by COVID-19.

ASG’s Commerce Department (DOC) have been designated as the lead department for the administration and development of the business loan program and DOC is required to submit its proposal for intended use of the ARPA funds in compliance with ARPA Oversight Office established guidelines.

An Oversight Office document released last Thursday explains that the program is to provide assistance for Small Businesses, providing loans or grants, lines of credit for covering payroll, mortgages or rent, and other operating costs as a result of the public health emergency and measures taken to contain the spread of the virus.

Additionally, programs of this type are specifically authorized by the US Department of Treasury’s Interim Final Rule, which identifies a non-exclusive list of eligible uses.

Furthermore, providing small businesses with access to credit and capital will directly address the identified negative impacts. The cash infusion is necessary to resume normal operations, especially as commercial flights will resume in the near future.

According to the Oversight Office document, tourism, travel & hospitality sectors and other impacted industries will be prioritized in accordance with the intent of the federal ARPA.

However, these broad categories allow flexibility in determining who qualifies for assistance. “Yet, each business applying for assistance should demonstrate specifically how they have been negatively impacted by the Public Health Emergency and to what extent,” it says.

By quantifying the economic impact in their applications, it will ensure that the use is eligible and ensure compliance with ARPA’s requirements, according to the Oversight Office document.

It also points out that it’s important to note that the criteria for assistance have some limitations. And the IFR identifies a non-exhaustive list of eligible uses which includes providing assistance to small businesses to adopt safer operating procedures, weather periods of closure, or mitigate financial hardship resulting from the COVID-19 public health emergency, including:

• Loans or grants to mitigate financial hardship such as declines in 
revenues or impacts of periods of business closure, for example by supporting payroll and benefits costs, costs to retain employees, mortgage, rent, or utilities costs, and other operating costs;

• Loans, grants, or in-kind assistance to implement COVID-19 prevention or mitigation tactics, such as physical plant changes to enable social distancing, enhanced cleaning efforts, barriers or partitions, or COVID- 19 vaccination, testing, or contact tracing programs; and

• Technical assistance, counseling, or other services to assist with business planning needs.

“Businesses have seen a significant increase in their operational costs as sourcing vendors for many basic goods have become more costly,” according to the documents.

“Providing urgently needed capital for local businesses to keep up with the skyrocketing costs is essential for the local businesses to survive and provide these critically needed goods,” it says.

Documents on the small business loan program and requirements are on Oversight Office webpage, [https://www.americansamoa.gov/arpa].

American Samoa has been awarded a total of $470 million in ARPA funds from the US Treasury.