LONG BEACH, Calif.–American Lending Center (ALC) strongly endorses President Biden’s signing of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Extension Act of 2021 into law on March 30, extending the current deadline for PPP loans from March 31 to May 31. The program’s extension comes as a significant relief to current and future applicants across the country, as recent rule changes had created backlogs and delayed loans to numerous small business owners.
“We at American Lending Center were thrilled to hear of the extension – we have seen our PPP loans have a marked impact on underserved communities from coast to coast,” said ALC CEO John Shen. “The big banks are not always ready to guide our nation’s small businesses. By offering multi-lingual customer service, assigning each applicant a loan officer to help guide the process and working around the clock to clear our backlog, we are consistently optimizing our process such that we remain ready and able to take on new clients in need of these critical funds.”
In 2021, 70.35 percent of ALC’s PPP borrowers are receiving first-time PPP loans. “In comparison to the national average of 39.71 percent, ALC’s numbers demonstrate that the company is one of very few PPP lenders that is successfully reaching and funding local companies left behind by the big banks, the underserved or underbanked small businesses overlooked by other lenders,” stated Scott Wagner, ALC’s economist.
In the first quarter of 2021 alone, ALC has 7,232 approved loans, with an average loan size of 36,000 dollars for a total amount of 259.73 million. ALC has provided PPP loans in all 50 states, US Virgin Island and Puerto Rico, with the majority of recipient companies minority- or women-owned. As a nontraditional community lender, ALC has been able to provide extensive, individualized customer service and expediently get money into the pockets of business owners largely overlooked.
