By Bonita Gooch/The Community Voice • Feb 19, 2021 Changes to the PPP program are intended to level the playing field for underbanked businesses, which are disproportionally Black- and brown-owned. The good news about the new $5 billion of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds approved by Congress in December is that Congress made some favorable revisions just to help small businesses and businesses owned by people of color. The program includes a new loan and forgivability terms, a reduced maximum loans size — making the loans more appealing to smaller businesses versus larger ones. They also set aside some of the dollars for community lenders and small businesses with 10 or fewer employees.