ATLANTA — As small business owners struggle to keep the lights on, many hold out hope that they will receive a portion of the $310 billion infusion to the highly sought-after paycheck protection program.
11Alive's Jennifer Bellamy talked to one such owner.
Laura Saunders, owner of Inman Park Pet Works, does her business from a distance. And she, like many other small businesses, has seen the coronavirus pandemic take a major bite out of her operations.
Her store is stocked full of assorted pet food and supplies. She also offers spa services for the neighborhood's four-legged clientele. But now, all of that has been kicked to the curb - as in curbside pick-up only.
Saunders says with store sales down about 50 percent, she is in dire need for financial help. She applied for the initial $349 billion allocated to the Paycheck Protection Program, part of the CARES Act passed by the U.S. Congress to provide low-interest forgivable loans to small businesses. By the time her application was approved, the funds had been exhausted.
To add insult to injury, it was later found that several publicly traded companies received funds by leveraging a loophole in the application.
A good banking relationship can make all the difference when it comes to funding mechanisms like the PPP.
Eric Wilson is the first vice-president and commercial banking team leader for Citizens Trust Bank, one of the largest and oldest black-owned banks in the country. He says when they first got wind of the program, his team contacted some of the bank's most loyal customers to tell them what they should do to get a piece of the action.
Earlier this week, Congress approved another $310 billion infusion into the PPP. Saunders hopes she receives some of that money. She says she gets updates from the Small Business Administration about the status of her application, but no funds have come through. She also points out that there could be millions of applications ahead of her.
Still, hope springs eternal.
Saunders is feeling the financial strain, having to dip into her savings to keep the doors open and her staff employed. She says the landlord of the building her store operates is giving her break on rent, and she is grateful to the loyal customers.
But, fiscally speaking, time is not on her side.
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