My PPP Loan has been fully forgiven!

I recently received news that the PPP (Payroll Protection Program) loan that we received early in the pandemic has been fully forgiven, and I can’t tell you what a relief that is and how grateful I am!

As the owner of a travel agency, when our sales fell off the map at the start of the pandemic I knew we were in trouble. Our agents were working harder than ever to assist clients, and all with little to no promise of payment for their efforts. That didn’t sit well with me at all, and I wanted to make sure they were paid, but we were unsure if we would have the funds to cover it. I heard about the Payroll Protection Program and started doing some research to see if it would work for us.

I knew I was taking a risk that it may not be forgiven and I would be on the hook for the money, but it had a low interest rate, and I was willing to take that risk to make sure that our agents were paid for their hard work. I made sure I followed all of the requirements of the loan including documentation of the use of the funds, and submitted our application for forgiveness a few months ago. When I received the determination that it had been fully forgiven, I was ecstatic and beyond grateful.

It is such a relief for my business, which was hard hit by the pandemic, as well as for my family that our PPP loan has been forgiven. As we begin to see some recovery from the pandemic, we don’t have to worry about the weight of that debt holding us back. We do still have a small SBA EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan) that will require payment, but it has a very low interest rate, and again I am so grateful for these programs that saw our small business through when we otherwise would have probably folded.

I wanted to share this because being transparent in this health & financial journey is important to me. I want to show the struggles along with the triumphs, and the experience of the last 14 months has included plenty of both!