Baker Boyer’s Executive Leadership Team is happy to announce that it anticipates processing over 300 Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) loans for the communities it calls home. The average loan was about $175,000, making them true small business loans reflecting our rural Northwest communities. Throughout all this, Baker Boyer’s commercial lenders have worked long hours to ensure that all the businesses that applied were best suited to receive the “First Come, First Served,” forgivable loans provided by the Small Business Administration.

As hundreds of loans have been approved and funded, Baker Boyer has realized that there is a limit to the number of loans it can effectively and satisfactorily administer through to completion eight weeks from now. Because of this, Baker Boyer has made the difficult decision it has reached its maximum capacity for processing applications before the second round of funding lapses for PPP loans. Baker Boyer has done everything we can to provide financing for our clients and communities. We have reached the limit of our capabilities while at the same time providing our clients with the quality of services they deserve.

During the initial phase of the program, in which $349 billion lasted just 12 days, Baker Boyer successfully secured PPP funding of over $33 million for nearly 200 clients in Yakima, Tri-Cities, and Walla Walla. In this second phase, the 125+ clients with existing pending applications will be provided with all the assistance possible to get them through the process and to being funded.

“I could not be more proud of our entire lending team for putting their hearts and souls into helping as many clients as possible,” expressed Joshua Allington, Executive Vice President and Chief Banking Officer. “Despite many difficulties and revisions with forms and guidance from the Small Business Administration and Treasury, our incredible team of advisors and loan specialists have worked vigilantly with our clients to prepare the calculations and documentation required to be eligible for PPP funding. We had employees inputting the second round of funding since the crack of dawn this morning (Monday).”

President and CEO Mark Kajita explained, “We have given everything we have for our communities. Baker Boyer saw the PPP program as an important way to support our clients’ businesses during this unprecedented pandemic. We have made every effort to communicate with our clients early and often to let them know where we stand with respect to health & safety mitigation, portfolio management strategies, and updates to the PPP program.” He continued, “In this case, we wanted to be clear that it is regrettably unlikely we will be able to start the application with any additional clients and get them to the finish line.”

But Kajita did not stop there. He gave the first glimpse of new programs in development from Baker Boyer to provide relief to businesses in need. “We know the PPP program has helped many businesses and employees in the communities we serve. However, we’re looking into new, additional ways we can provide liquidity to these and other businesses and will have something to announce in the coming weeks in that regard.”

To find alternative lender options, please visit the SBA website.

To learn more about Baker Boyer’s overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with links to additional resources, go to www.bakerboyer.com/coronavirus.