NATIONWIDE —  More funding for the Paycheck Protection Program became available Monday for small businesses that are struggling to make it through stay-at-home orders.

The president approved an additional $310 billion for the program Friday. 

Applications already in the pipeline from the first go-around–estimated at one-million or more—are supposed to be first-in-line this time. 


Charter Communications has temporarily opened its live stream free to the public. You can watch Spectrum News via our live stream on your desktop or laptop without a subscription by visiting our website and clicking “Watch Live” in the upper right. Charter also is temporarily offering free broadband and wifi access for 60 days to teachers and families with K-12 or college students. To enroll, call 1-844-488-8395. The company also will open more than half a million wifi hotspots across the country.


The $349 billion for the program as part of the CARES Act ran out in less than two weeks. The loans went to nearly 1.7 million small businesses, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The loans are forgivable if used primarily for payroll expenses.

Music teacher Rebekah Piatt, who runs A Noteworthy Music Studio in Winter Park, was hoping to receive the loan the first time around, but now she’s not as optimistic. 

“My focus right now is just making sure that our current clientele is super happy and super taken care of and that my teachers are able to have a steady paycheck,” she told Spectrum News 13.

Piatt employs four other music teachers. She’s had to change her entire business model because of the coronavirus. 

Students are not allowed at her studio anymore; classes are online-only. Piatt says she has lost 20 percent of her students over the past few weeks. 

She launched a scholarship fund Saturday to help pay for students who have had to stop taking lessons because of financial straits. 

To get more details on qualifying for the program, head to the Small Business Administration website.