KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Paycheck Protection Program was unveiled last week to help small businesses keep workers employed.
The Small Business Administration will forgive loans from the program if employees are kept on the company's payroll for eight week. Loans should be used to pay for payroll, rent, mortgage or utilities.
There are more than 30 million small businesses in America. In East Tennessee, 15,000 regional businesses have 100 employees or less, according to the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce.
Thousands of banks are trying to help those businesses survive during this time.
"The banks don't have a playbook, businesses don't have a playbook," said Billy Carroll with Smart Bank.
He said his employees have been working overtime to get applications for the payment protection program submitted.
"We're running around 1,500 applications," he said. "We've had about 700 get through the system to be approved."
It takes a lot of work and patience on banks' parts, and it takes a lot of work for small businesses to get loans.
"They're anxious because there's a program here and a finite amount of money," Carroll said.
So far, Carroll said they've approved $150 million in PPP loans, but still have a long way to go.
"We're a community bank but relatively small in the scheme of things but it's amazing," he said.
Some businesses are struggling to find a bank to apply. Not all small banks are participating and national banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase are focusing on pre-existing clients first.
"We're kind of taking them as they come in," said Carroll about Smart Bank.
The Knoxville Chamber of Commerce encourages business owners to be patient and can connect them with area resources if they need help.
"It makes you feel good as a community banker," said Carroll. "That's what we want — to help people."