The PBFC, in partnership with Adesso Capital, is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications from professional Beauty and Personal Service sectors across all 50 states for the just announced deal extending the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This includes hair, nails, skin, barbering, lashes as well as tattoo, massage, personal fitness, and piercing services. The new PPP extends 100% forgivable loans to independent contractors, 1099 workers, salon owners, booth renters, salon suite owners and renters, and sole proprietors. While Congress just approved this new round of $284B of PPP funds yesterday, which is expected to be signed by the President within days, beauty professionals can submit an early application for approval now at https://federationplans.com/ppp/. Funding for previous PPP was exhausted quickly by bigger businesses, before many small businesses were able to find a lender who would accept their application. For this reason, the PBFC encourages beauty and personal service professionals to apply now so that they will not be left behind when the U.S. Small Business Administration begins processing and funding worthy applications. The requirements are straightforward. Professionals must have been in operation on February 15, 2020, their livelihood and business must have been harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and professionals must submit the required documentation as part of their loan application. Loan forgiveness will be based on several factors; Adesso loan professionals will assist each applicant to qualify for the maximum amount available under the new law. According to the outlines of the deal just announced, the PBFC believes the forgivable loan could be as much as 2.5 times pre-COVID monthly gross income! Ted Nelson, President of PBFC acknowledged that “politicians and health officers have marginalized and disrespected personal service professionals throughout the COVID-19 crisis, keeping beauty professionals in lockdown longer than any other economic sector and providing the personal service professionals little access to public assistance and relief. We have now turned our advocacy efforts to securing badly needed relief dollars for our struggling salon, barbershop, and spa professionals, as well as tattoo artists, massage therapists and personal fitness trainers.” The PBFC led the fight for beauty professionals in California, the state with the most prolonged shutdowns. The PBFC sponsored and organized beauty professional protests across California with top hair stylists, including Ted Gibson (@tedgibson), Larisa Love (@larisadoll), Robert Cromeans (@robertcromeans), among others, as well as spearheading the #OpenSalonsNow. Fred Jones, PBFC Legal Counsel & Advocate, further commented, “The PBFC fought the prolonged and unjustified lockdowns by being the first state in the Union to sue their Governor and by launching a successful #OpenSalonsNow media campaign. It is time for beauty and personal service professionals to establish their place in line for the financial assistance they deserve! We encourage beauty and personal service professionals to submit applications as soon as possible to ensure that our quintessential small businesses and sole proprietors receive their share of this new government relief, unlike prior government relief funding.” Damon Maletta, CEO of Adesso Capital adds, “Banks were not prepared for the tidal wave of PPP applications the first time around, and were reluctant to accept applications from new small businesses. Adesso came through, providing small business owners with needed guidance and access to PPP funding. We are once again prepared to help small business and beauty professionals, but they need to move fast.” Want to read more? Subscribe to one of our monthly plans to continue reading this article.