Washington, D.C.— Today, the House Small Business Committee Subcommittee on Innovation and Workforce Development, under Chairman Jason Crow (D-CO) held a hearing examining how the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) legacy technology systems faired throughout the implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The hearing also covered recent issues surrounding the SBA’s release of PPP loan data and their new system for PPP forgiveness.
“I would like to know what steps SBA is taking to ensure that the technology issues encountered during PPP loan application period do not occur during the forgiveness period,” said Chairman Crow. “We must work together to modernize SBA’s systems and ensure that the forgiveness process is not cumbersome for small businesses so they can receive their forgiveness quickly.”
Small business owners and lenders have raised concerns regarding SBA’s technology systems since the agency started implementing programs enacted by the CARES Act. Problems like portal crashes, the release of inaccurate data, and technical issues surrounding loan forgiveness raise concerns that SBA’s underlying technological systems are inadequate. During the hearing, members examined issues springing from SBA technology and agency efforts to minimize their impact on small business borrowers and lenders.
William Manger, SBA’s Chief of Staff and Associate Administrator of the Office of Capital Access, testified on his office’s efforts to execute PPP, loan forgiveness, and data collection.
“Going forward, for the loan review and forgiveness processes, SBA is using a combination of existing systems and new cloud-based systems,” said Associate Administrator Manger. “Our OCA team has consistently sought to enhance our systems, including the addition of memory and processing capacity in response to the demands placed on the existing technological infrastructure.”
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