Friends,
I hope everyone is well. Today I will provide two separate e-mails regarding SVOG. This one concerns what I believe to be factual about the portal opening.
I have spoken to several legislators and SBA staff members in the last 10 days. The SBA posted on their website last week “we aim to reopen the portal by the end of the week of April 18th, 2021”. Technically, Saturday, April 24th is the end of this week. It is possible for the SBA to open the portal on Saturday the 24th. I am told that is highly unlikely, as most people are not in their offices on Saturday. A weekday is a preferred opening day. This is an opinion, not a fact.
Second, the SBA did publicly announce they would release the new FAQs and the new User Guide in advance of the opening of the portal. Technically, the SBA posted on their website “Also, we are updating the applicant user guide and FAQs to further clarify information and will post those here in advance of the application portal opening.” They did not provide an exact timeframe of how far in advance, but I have been told by several SBA staffers and legislators it should be a minimum of 48 hours in advance of the opening. Again, I am sharing information I have had confirmed by multiple qualified sources. There has been no formal SBA announcement since the announcement last week.
As it is mid-day EDT on Thursday April 22nd, a 48 hour advance notice period would mean an opening mid-day Saturday, which I am told is highly unlikely.
I have been told directly by 3 legislators and 3 SBA staff members the portal will not open tomorrow, Friday the 23rd. All six of these people are in a position to possess this knowledge. There has not been a formal announcement, so, to a point, I am giving your qualified rumors. For that I apologize. I write this because I am hearing from a lot of you that are desperate for funding and you are frustrated.
There were three issues with SVOG on the 9th.
- Software issues
- Content (wording) issues
- Potential oversight issues.
I am told the software issues are resolved. I am told the oversight issues are and will be ongoing, but should not delay opening as they are downstream issues. I am told content (wording) issues have taken longer to resolve than expected.
I have pointedly asked when the new FAQs and the new User Guide will be issued. No one I speak with has a date. It is possible those are issued today or Friday. In both of those cases, it would seem likely the portal may open on Monday or after. However, no one has offered those or any dates, and that entire path is pure conjecture.
If I receive any new information today, I will share it with you. The SBA could certainly release all of the information later today. The SBA could then open the portal tomorrow. In fact, that path would have fulfilled the statement that they “will post those here in advance of the application portal opening.” There is an overall feeling from the people I speak with that 24 hours is not an adequate timeframe to prepare, but that too is conjecture and opinion. No one I speak with knows the plan.
All six of the legislators and SBA staffers I spoke with do believe the most likely portal opening date will be next week.
I hope this helps you and we all wait and pray that the portal opens sooner rather than later.
Thank you all for everything you do and stay tuned.
Michael T. Strickland
