Struggling smaller businesses in the promotional products market and other industries are about to get a break.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a federal coronavirus economic relief initiative that provides potentially forgivable loans to U.S. businesses, will exclusively accept applications from companies with fewer than 20 employees between 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Feb. 24, and 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 9.

The measure is one of a number of moves the Biden administration is announcing Monday, Feb. 22, to help improve access to the PPP for America’s smallest businesses and companies owned by minorities and/or located in underserved communities.

The latest round of PPP loans launched in January. Some $284 billion in federal funding is available to businesses affected by economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Lenders issue the loans, which are backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Demand for PPP support in 2021 from promotional products companies has been strong, as the industry continues to grapple with significant challenges related to the pandemic, including a dearth of conferences, trade shows and other live in-person events where branded merchandise would normally have a role.

With #COVID still causing major challenges for #promoproducts companies, firms are rushing to apply for more #PPP loan support. Some say it's essential to keeping their businesses open. https://t.co/1P5MZ9tXOt @ASI_MBell @CJ_ASIEditor @asicentral @Tim_Andrews_ASI

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) February 1, 2021

“If we don’t receive a second PPP loan and the economy stays the way it is, it will be a tough struggle to make it through the year,” Richard Bernardo, owner of Groton, CT-based distributor R&B Apparel Plus (asi/303251), told ASI Media earlier this month.

An official with the Biden administration told The Wall Street Journal that the two-week window in which only companies with fewer than 20 employees can apply for PPP will “give lenders and community partners more time to work with these Main Street businesses that anchor our neighborhoods and help families build wealth, while also ensuring larger PPP-eligible businesses will still have plenty of time over three weeks to apply for and receive support before the program expires.” This round of PPP is scheduled to end on March 31.

Among other PPP changes, the SBA will earmark $1 billion specifically for applicants that have no employees and that are located in low- and moderate-income communities. Again, promo companies that fit that bill would do well to apply for PPP support now.

Additionally, there’ll be changes to the PPP that aim to help get viable financial support to sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed workers. A key revision will be that these would-be loan recipients can have their potential loan amount calculated based on gross income. Previously, requirements that tied loan calculations to net profit had some of these businesses qualifying for loans of only $1.

Meanwhile, the SBA is expected to assert that U.S. residents who are citizens, like green card holders, can indeed apply for PPP loans. Business owners that are delinquent on student loans will also be able to receive PPP now under changes Biden is announcing.

Since the latest round of PPP opened on Jan. 11, the SBA has approved nearly $140.3 billion in loans as of Feb. 21. Roughly 95% of the loans have been for less than $350,000 – a fact that officials say is an indication that loans are reaching smaller businesses in need.

The first round of PPP launched on April 3, 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The forgivable loan program was meant to help small businesses keep workers on payroll and take care of certain other business expenses.

The program got off to a rocky start, but quickly gained momentum. By April 16, the initial $349 billion in PPP funding was gone, scooped up by businesses negatively impacted by shutdown orders related to the coronavirus pandemic. Congress approved a second $310 billion round of funding on April 27.

The latest $284 billion round of PPP comes as part of a $900 billion coronavirus economic relief package that Congress and the Trump administration approved at the end of December 2020.