Connecticut lenders together through June 30 processed almost 61,000 PPP loans totaling more than $6.69 billion.

The Paycheck Protection Program loan portal will open to lenders with $1 billion in assets or less at 9 a.m. tomorrow, with the remaining lenders gaining access to the portal on Tuesday.

A new round of PPP lending launched this week after Congress authorized an additional $284 billion in funding in December. Earlier this week, the U.S. Small Business Administration had opened the PPP portal to community financial institutions, including community development financial institutions, minority depository institutions, certified development companies and microloan intermediaries. The move was part of an SBA initiative to reach underserved and minority small businesses.

The SBA said it would continue its emphasis on reaching smaller lenders and businesses by opening the portal on Friday to approximately 5,000 more lenders, including community banks, credit unions and farm credit institutions. The agency also said it would have dedicated service hours for smaller lenders after the portal fully reopens next week.

“A second round of PPP could not have come at a better time, and the SBA is making every effort to ensure small businesses have the emergency financial support they need to continuing weathering this time of uncertainty,” SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said in a statement. “SBA has worked expeditiously to ensure our policies and systems are re-launched so that this vital small business aid helps communities hardest hit by the pandemic. I strongly encourage America’s entrepreneurs needing financial assistance to apply for a first or second draw PPP loan.”

First draw PPP loans are for borrowers who did not receive a loan last year when the PPP ran from April to early August. Second draw PPP loans are for eligible small businesses with 300 employees or less that previously received a PPP loan and can demonstrate at least a 25 percent reduction in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020. The maximum amount of a second draw PPP loan is $2 million.

“We are pleased to have opened PPP loans to CDFIs, MDIs, CDCs, and microloan intermediaries. The PPP is already providing America’s small businesses hardest hit by the pandemic with vital economic relief,” Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin said in the statement. “As the program re-opens for all first and second draw borrowers next week, the PPP will allow small businesses to keep workers on payroll and connected to their health insurance.”