The latest MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index Survey confirms that small businesses remain concerned about the ongoing impacts of COVID-19. According to the study, “More than three in five (62 percent) small business owners believe the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is ahead of us.

“With many anticipating worse times, it’s not surprising many small businesses see the need for temporary, targeted government assistance. Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) say additional federal relief funds would be important to their business’s ability to succeed in 2021.”

Fortunately, the “Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act,” was signed into law as part of a broader stimulus bill related to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency. The bill reopens the lending window for forgivable U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program loans through March 31, 2021, and allocates an approximate additional $284 billion to enable the hardest-hi...