Local Banks Lend Record Amount
Local banks have confirmed that the amount of money allocated through the Payroll Protection Plan is in the millions. Over the past two weeks banks have been accepting loan applications for businesses that need help in keeping their employees on the payroll and the PPP, through the Small Business Administration, has been geared to doing just that. Specifically two banks here in Florence, Oregon Pacific Bank and Banner Bank have processed hundred s of applications and received funding for many of them prior to funds running out. Ron Green, President and CEO says their loan team has seen a lot of approvals.
“One loan officer received 87 paycheck protection loan approvals for the Florence Community small businesses and non-profits and that total was about 5.5 million dollars.
Banner Bank did not have a breakdown of Florence Community businesses but Kelly McPhee with Banner Bank says statewide they secured almost 500 million dollars.
“We were able to secure funding for over 438 million dollars through the SBA Program.
Although the current amount of money available has run out, both banks are anticipating a new round of funding and are continuing to process loans for the Payroll Protection Program. Numbers of applications processed from the Small Business Administration over the 10 day period the program was open topped the number of total applications over the past 14 years combined. Green says that businesses and non-profits that may not have applied for the PPP loans can still do so.
Fatal Accident Friday
Friday evening a fatal crash on highway 36 took the life of a Florence woman. 34 year old Tara Ross was killed when a tan Nissan pickup truck, driven by a 17 year old female, also from Florence, crossed the center line and hit head on Ross’s chevy cavalier. Two 17 year old females traveling with Ross were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the Nissan was also taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The accident occurred at milepost 1 just north of the 126/36 junction.
126 Delays
If you are heading to Eugene over the next two weeks be prepared for slight delays as the Oregon Department of Transportation begins a tree removal safety project that will begin one mile east of the tunnel. The project will cover two miles of Highway 126 and work will occur from 8am to 5pm daily. Traffic will be limited to one lane and flaggers will be present.
New COVID-19 Numbers
Over the weekend there were only two new reports of COVID-19 cases in Lane County. Both new cases were from the Eugene/Springfield area. The first was a woman in her 50’s and the second was a male in his 20’s. Both are medically stable and are currently at home. The number of positive cases statewide has risen to 1,910 which is 174 new cases since Friday’s numbers. 39,038 tests have been conducted and 74 deaths have been attributed to the virus.
