Treasury Department’s Recent Changes to Paycheck Protection Program Loan Guidance Are Making It Even Harder for Firms to Maintain Jobs Amid Declining Private-Sector Demand for Construction

Laredo, Texas and Lake Charles, La. Have Largest Construction Job Losses While Lewiston, Idaho-Wash. And Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas Add the Most Jobs; Association Survey Indicates Losses will Spread

Nearly Half of Firms Have Received Loans, But Growing Number of Project Cancellations, Delays and Delivery Problems Imperil Industry; Association Leaders Call for Immediate Infrastructure Funding

New Monthly Job Loss Data Foreshadows More Layoffs Amid Project Cancellations and State Cutbacks in Road Projects as Association Calls for More Small Business Relief and Immediate Aid for Highway Funding

Survey of Construction Firms by the Associated General Contractors of America Finds More Than Half of Firms Have Had Projects Halted as 74 Percent Seek New Paycheck Protection Loans to Retain Staff

Associated General Contractors of America Organized the Nationwide Safety Stand Down to Make Sure Firms and Workers Know, and Follow, All Coronavirus-Related Safety Procedures and Practices

Association Officials Urge Quick Enactment of Infrastructure Investment, Relief for Hard-Hit Firms and Pensions in Order to Save Jobs in Construction and Supplier Industries

On April 2, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an “interim final rule” to the effect that business must have 500 or fewer employees and fall below the SBA’s small business size standards in order to qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program. Congress, however, declared that the program shall be open to all business that have 500 or fewer employees or fall below those standards. Over the weekend, AGC of America alerted the Trump Administration to the problem, and late last night the U.S. Department of Treasury released new guidance about the Paycheck Protection Program loans that includes the following:

Construction Officials Urge Agency to Make Clear that Firms that Employ 500 or Fewer People to Qualify for Paycheck Protection Program Loans, Regardless of Revenue

Association Survey Conducted This Week Suggests Industry’s Job Losses are Spreading Rapidly; Officials Call for Additional Federal Measures to Help Avoid Further Layoffs and Economic Pain