The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh announced a plan to forgive a portion of COVID-19 related small business loans deployed at the beginning of the pandemic.
Between March 2020 and November 2020, the URA gave out 217 COVID-19 ELF (Emergency Loan Fund) loans. Overall, the program dispersed over $2.9-million.
Due to the $3.5-million received from the American Rescue Plan, Mayor Bill Peduto is stressing the importance of small business and its role in society.
“Small businesses are the backbones of our neighborhood main streets. I want to commend the URA leadership and staff for reacting quickly and nimbly in 2020 to support these businesses. By forgiving loans, the City and URA are taking another step to aid our economic recovery and invest in the future of Pittsburgh small business,” said Mayor William Peduto.
The URA began to forgive loans in the summer of 2021 and in August, loan borrowers started to receive messages that the outstanding balances of their COVID-19 ELF loans were forgiven.
Be sure to follow KDKA NewsRadio on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and updates.