WASHINGTON, D.C. -

For independent dealerships seeking to have their Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiven, they are amongst a large number of other businesses.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced this week that it reached a major milestone as its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Direct Borrower Forgiveness Portal recorded its 1 millionth PPP loan forgiveness application for borrowers seeking forgiveness for loans of $150,000 or less. 

Since the portal’s launch on Aug. 4, the SBA said it has received applications for more than $17 billion of relief from more than one million of small businesses. In fewer than 45 days, officials said 91% of all loans eligible for direct forgiveness in the 2020 PPP portfolio have been submitted.

Furthermore, SBA indicated the number of direct forgiveness participating lenders has more than doubled from 600 when the portal opened, to more than 1,400.

In addition, officials said significant progress has been made on the 2021 PPP Loans with 65% of all loans eligible for direct forgiveness already submitted.

The SBA added that it has also been able to streamline the process for those not eligible for direct forgiveness using the COVID Health score, which eliminates the need for overwhelming paperwork to be provided to lenders, and serve more than 600,000 borrowers to date.

With the introduction of the new PPP Direct Forgiveness Portal, the SBA said it has streamlined application processes in order to recenter the user experience around small business owners.

Officials explained a borrower of a participating lender can now complete most or all of a forgiveness application using a computer or, for the first time, their smartphone. On average, users are able to complete and submit directly to the SBA their applications in just six minutes, and most receive their forgiveness decisions within a week from the date of submission, according to the federal agency.

“We are committed to delivering against the promise of forgiveness for our eligible PPP borrowers. Our innovative direct forgiveness portal is helping our PPP borrowers get back to doing what they do best – creating jobs and powering our nation’s economy,” SBA administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said in a news release.

“With over 1 million application submissions, our direct forgiveness portal has already given so many of our smallest businesses the ability to apply for forgiveness quickly and smoothly and move forward with their rebuilding and recovery. I encourage those eligible PPP borrowers who have yet to apply to visit SBA.gov or contact their lender today,” Casillas Guzman said.

Eligible interested borrowers can access the portal from the SBA website at https://directforgiveness.sba.gov. Borrowers that need assistance with their forgiveness applications or have questions can contact the PPP customer service team by calling (877) 552-2692 on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. (ET).