Pub. 11 2021 Issue 2

6 www.azbankers.org A T THE END OF MAY, THE GOVERNMENT’S Paycheck Protection Program is scheduled to come to a close. If Congress does not extend the program, we can expect the “Monday morning quarterbacking” about the program’s impact on the economy, its design and implementation, and its ultimate cost to begin. Those are appropriate questions to ask as we consider the lessons learned from the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what I know already: The biggest small business rescue program in U.S. history would have been an unmitigated failure without the extraordinary efforts of America’s banks and their dedicated employees. It would never have produced the positive results it did without the incredible collaboration between ABA and our state association alliance partners. It’s easy to forget what the world was like when PPP first launched in April 2020. The nation’s economy had largely shut down, many Americans were isolated in their homes, and businesses of all sizes were dealing with the stark new reality posed by COVID-19. Banks across the country were trying to figure out how to keep the banking system fully functioning in the middle of a global pandemic and how to help their customers survive the economic disruption while also trying to figure out how to protect the health and safety of their employees and customers from an invisible threat. It was against that backdrop that the federal government asked banks and other financial institutions to help the Small Business Administration launch the Paycheck Protection Program. On paper, the program dwarfed any previous SBA lending program Perspective on the Paycheck Protection Program Rob Nichols, President and CEO American Bankers Association Washington Update