When COVID-19 restrictions hit local businesses, City Wok in Palm Desert needed financial help.

“We applied for the same main loans that everyone else applied for the PPP and EIDL loans. We got the $10,000 advance,” said Stuart Davis, owner of City Wok.

The restaurant is one of the few businesses in the Coachella Valley to receive funding, but Davis says right now, it isn’t enough.

“Unfortunately $10,000 sounds like a lot but when our monthly rent for the two locations is $30,000, then $10,000 dollars doesn’t go very far,” said Davis.

Across the country, thousands of loans remain unfilled, and today the Small Business Administration announced their lending program is out of money.

“The SBA has processed more than 14 years worth of loans in less than 14 days. That’s 349 billion dollars,” said Natalie Orta, a member of the SBA in the Coachella Valley.

No new requests are being accepted for disaster relief loans.

“Applicants who have already submitted their applications will continue to be served on a first come first serve basis. If applicants who have applied for the PPP loan with their lender have an SBA authorization number, then they have funds. Everyone else who has submitted is going to have to wait until we have additional appropriations,” said Orta.

That includes thousands of people who haven’t heard back or who have gotten messages saying they weren’t approved at this time.

To help those businesses still in need, Congress discussed an additional $250 billion loan program to help small businesses.

The Senate adjourned for the week without approving funding.

“Hopefully we’ll wake up tomorrow or next week or in a couple weeks and find out that we’ve been funded. Right now it is critical to get us through, and it is a domino effect if it gets us through we can pay other people,” said Davis.

For more information you can check the SBA’s website.

There are also local SBA resources that have information for small business owners:

The SBA Resource partners in the Coachella Valley are:

Coachella Valley Women’s Business Center (http://www.cvwbc.org/)

Small Business Development Center (https://coachellavalleysbdc.org/)

Coachella Valley SCORE (https://coachellavalley.score.org/)

Those partners encourage those in need of loans to reach out to their local legislators to encourage them to provide more relief funding.

Local legislators can be found here:

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-yourrepresentativehttps://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

SBA loans run out of money, many requests unfilled