ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The Equipment Dealers Assn. (EDA) and its regional affiliate members have sent a letter to Senator Marco Rubio, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (the Committee), urging the Committee to take action to alleviate uncertainty under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The Committee, which oversees the Small Business Administration (SBA), is instrumental in guiding policy and providing input in the implementation process of the PPP through the SBA.

The letter explained that there is uncertainty under the existing regulations and guidance issued by both the SBA and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on how the waiver rule applies when the business concerns (rooftops) are not separate legal entities with their own EIN#. This ambiguity has limited the ability of many dealers to qualify for the much-needed relief intended to be provided under the PPP. The letter states, “It is our opinion that Congress’ intent in adopting the “waiver of affiliation rules” for franchise businesses was to make PPP funding available to separate business concerns (rooftops) with fewer than 500 employees, regardless of the business/legal organization. In the case of Farm Equipment Franchises, most of these business concerns are in rural communities, have less than 30 employees per rooftop, are fighting the economic and safety challenges caused by COVID 19, and as other main street business, need to keep their employee base intact through this pandemic.  Plainly, these are the types of businesses that Congress intended to help and their eligibility for financial assistance should not be controlled by organizational structure.“

The EDA and regional affiliate executives who signed the letter, encouraged swift action by the Committee as the PPP loan funds are limited and available on a first-come basis. You can read the full letter, here.