CHAPEL HILL – It’s clear the federal government prioritized supporting small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite issues in the rollout and implementation of federal programs like the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), found a new report from the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and the Entrepreneurship Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. But many black-owned businesses did not have access to funds made available through the Payroll Protection Program, and recent research has found that there is documented bias in lending and systemic reasons why black entrepreneurs may choose not to use traditional banks.