04.10.2020

President Trump And His Administration Must Fix These Problems Immediately: Small Business Owners Across The Country Say They Aren’t Getting Needed Funds From Paycheck Protection Program

Main Street Alliance Executive Director Amanda Ballantyne: “There are very few business owners who have successfully gotten the money,” … “Money isn’t flowing yet.” [WSJ, 4/10/20]

NY Times: Small Businesses Wait for Cash as Disaster Loan Program Unravels. “The CARES Act, the $2 trillion relief bill signed by President Trump last month, also authorized the S.B.A. to hand out the first $10,000 as a grant that didn’t have to be paid back. Those funds were supposed to be available to applicants within three days of their application, even if they weren’t approved for a loan. That hasn’t happened, according to more than 400 applicants who contacted The Times.” [NY Times, 4/9/20]

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS ARE FRUSTRATED THEY HAVE NOT RECEIVED FUNDS FROM THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM – SEE MORE FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY HERE

Dave Evasaw, Owner of Upper Merion Dance & Gymnatics Center, King of Prussia, PA.

Philadelphia Inquirer: “Dave Evasaw is hoping for a cash advance on his EIDL application. But he got a different story on the phone with the SBA. An agency supervisor ‘told me that the SBA gets to choose the amount of the advance,’ Evasaw said. ‘I pointed out that Page 68 of the law. He said that the SBA is choosing the amount. I said regardless of the fact that the new procedures rate $1,000 per employee, I would be eligible for the full $10,000 because I have 15 full-time employees and 50 part-time employees. He said that the SBA would determine what I get for an advance, if we get one, which again is also contrary to the law as the law says even denied loan applications are eligible for the advance.’ He is resorting to paying for expenses on credit cards. ‘We lost over $200,000 since we were one of the first companies to have to close, being a gym in Montgomery County, Pa.,’ he said. ‘We are down to just gift cards to eat with as we’ve put every penny of cash and personal credit cards into our business’ payroll, health insurance, and other essential bills.’ As for the $10,000 advance as part of the loan application? ‘We can expect it in 3-to-4 weeks, if they find my application,’ he said. ‘The SBA has changed the laws at their own discretion to the detriment of small businesses everywhere. Many banks can’t access it because they have to manually enter a full year’s worth of payroll data into the system and the government hasn’t given out enough portal accounts to the banks to accomplish it at any scale.’” [Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/10/20]

Austin Brown, Founder of American Affordable Gutters, Panama City, FL.

WJHG (NBC Panama City): “Austin Brown started his own business American Affordable Gutters in January alongside his brother and cousin.” … “Brown said, ‘we did the SBA loan and it’s gonna take what they say up to three or five months to even get any kind of money. So I mean obviously when this pandemic is over that money is not gonna be necessary, so what do we do in the meantime?’ Like many other small businesses, Brown has found himself in unknown territory, unsure of what the future holds. ‘I don’t want to fail, I'm going to fight and do everything I can to keep this business and to stay afloat but it’s a lot of hard work and if we don’t get any money then we might just end up saying ‘see ya later’,’ he said. [WJHG, 4/9/20]

John Childs, Executive Director Of Mental Fitness 21^st Century Learning (After School And Summer Camp Program), Atlanta, GA.

WSBTV: “Students used to fill John Childs’ afterschool program and summer camp in Fairburn and Inman middle school. Then the coronavirus hit. ‘We had to close up almost immediately,’ Childs said. Of course that meant his income and cashflow suffered. He had to lay off his 13 employees. He then applied for federal loans, like EIDL. ‘Almost as soon as they were available,’ Childs said. That loan is supposed to give small businesses with 10 employees or more an advance of 10-thousand dollars that they don’t have to pay back. They're supposed to get it within 3 days. It's been almost 2 weeks since Childs applied. ‘My application, my original one was deleted. I had to go back and reapply,’ Childs said.” [WSBTV, 4/9/20]

Kevin Smith, Founder of Wynexa (Software Company), Houston, TX.

New York Times: “A loan capped at $15,000 would be nearly useless to Kevin Smith, the founder of Wynexa, a software company in Houston. Mr. Smith, who applied for a loan in late March, is seeking at least $50,000 to keep his company and his three employees afloat. He has called the S.B.A. for updates three times, waiting on hold each time for up to two hours. ‘Each time I’ve called it’s been a different story,’ Mr. Smith said. He was initially told he would have a response to his application by April 1. When that date passed and he called again, he was told it would take at least two weeks. Now, the S.B.A. is not offering any estimates at all, he said.” [New York Times, 4/9/20]

Justin Cline, Co-Founder of Full Tilt Ice Cream, Seattle, WA.

Seattle Times: “Like many Seattle-area small businesses trying to ride out the coronavirus pandemic, Justin Cline is having serious doubts about the federal government’s $349 billion small-business bailout. Cline, co-founder of Full Tilt Ice Cream, is eager to tap a loan program through the Small Business Administration (SBA) to rehire the roughly two dozen laid-off staff at his five retail outlets as soon as public health officials give the all-clear. ‘This could give us a chance’ to get through the crisis, Cline told his business partner and wife, Ann Magyar, when the program was announced last month. But though he has applied for SBA loans, he doesn’t know whether his loan application has been approved or when any funds might show up. He’s been told the same by other local business owners. ‘Nobody has heard anything,’ he says.” [Seattle Times, 4/8/20]

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