Supporting the supply chain
Working with the SBA to help suppliers through the COVID-19 crisis
Over the course of 14 days, the U.S. Small Business Administration processed the equivalent of more than 14 years’ worth of loans as a response to COVID-19’s economic impact. As of April 23, two of the programs aimed at supporting small businesses, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), had exhausted their funding. After Congress agreed to give more money to the SBA programs, would small businesses be able to resume applying for support?
The funding has since been made available, but questions were on the minds of the thousands of suppliers that support Raytheon Technologies. To answer those questions, Sarfraz Nawaz, vice president of supply chain at Raytheon Technologies, hosted a web conference on April 22 featuring John Miller, deputy associate administrator for the SBA Office of Capital Access. The conference is one of several ways Raytheon Technologies is supporting its supplier base during hard economic times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference was a 30-minute information session that was viewed by more than 2,500 people. Miller answered suppliers’ most pressing questions about the EIDL and the PPP; questions such as whether or not the PPP can be forgiven after eight weeks, and what are the minimum requirements for the loan, were also covered.
“It’s true that the loan can be forgiven after eight weeks. The process works as follows: All or a portion of the PPP loan, including the accrued interest may be forgiven. At least 75% of the amount eligible for forgiveness must be attributed to payroll costs,” Miller said.
Miller went on to explain that the minimum requirements for the loan include completion of SBA form 248S, the Borrower’s Application for a PPP Loan, and submission of payroll and expense documents. Miller recommended that suppliers work with their banks for the PPP Loan application.
For the second round of PPP loans, the U.S. government has approved more than 960,000 loans with almost $90 billion in funding. Currently there are more than 5,300 lenders participating. While industry breakdowns are not yet available for the second round of loans, manufacturing was thethird-highest recipient for the first round of PPP loans.
To support its small business suppliers, Raytheon Technologies formed a Small Business Supplier Stimulus Team focused on coordinating support to its supply base. This team brings together cross-functional members from each of the company’s businesses, creating a hub of knowledge, expertise and experience.
“There are various tools we can leverage, and our supply chain representatives all have these in their toolbox as they talk with the suppliers,” said Andrea Desaulniers, program manager of supply management at Raytheon Technologies.
The team has created standard work documents that will help our supply chain members support their suppliers. “When a supplier calls, we want to get them in the right direction. We first see if they can leverage the CARES Act and have direct links for them on our supplier website,” Desaulniers said.
These efforts and standard tools can be leveraged by all suppliers. Many of the large suppliers have small, sub-tier suppliers. All Raytheon Technologies suppliers and many internal supply chain representatives were invited to the conference.
“We have thousands of buyers and supply chain support representatives out there,” said Desaulniers. “We’re trying to make sure they all understand what they can do when a supplier calls and says they need help. The first thing we want suppliers to do is to leverage the resources in the CARES Act, but talk to their supply chain representative about other support they need that we may be able to help them with.
Raytheon Technologies is using its manufacturing capacity, and engineering, logistics and finance expertise to carry out initiatives that serve our communities, deliver on our commitments to our customers and protect our employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about our efforts.