KANSAS CITY, Mo. — More financial relief is on the way to aid struggling small businesses as many remain temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Trump signed a $484 billion stimulus package Friday for coronavirus relief, a second round of federal funding to buoy the economy with $370 billion dedicated for small businesses.
The stimulus will replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, which was established by the CARES Act but quickly ran out of money leaving with thousands of small businesses out of luck and in limbo.
"It’s disappointing that the big guys or big gals once again got in front of the line, and I don’t think that’s what was intended,” Casey Simmons, co-owner of A Store Named Stuff in Kansas City, Missouri, said
For a business that’s been a staple in the Brookside neighborhood for the past 25 years, this is the biggest challenge they've ever faced.
"Time is of the essence in a situation like this, because it's cash flow," Simmons said. "We need the money now to be able to do what we do to stay in business."
A Store Named Stuff applied for an economic injury disaster loan, which can help businesses with amounts typically up to $10,000, and the Paycheck Protection Program.
"The process of applying wasn’t a big deal, but we have seen nothing since," Simmons said. "So, no money, no response from the (U.S. Small Business Administration)."
They had one hiccup applying for the Paycheck Protection Protection, or PPP, when Simmons completed an application only to find out the SBA changed the rules and required them to apply through their bank. That meant starting the process all over.
"I would say the only frustration I had was losing our time slot, because in the PPP we would have been way up in the line, but we lost that time slot when they decided to switch it to doing it through bank portals only,” Simmons said.
41 Action News spoke to a commercial lender at Equity Bank about how businesses should approach applying for these kind of loans.
"The Paycheck Protection Program was geared for companies who had employee numbers up to 500 (people), and so I would consider that the smaller business community, and that is going to be the most beneficial for the most companies,” Equity Bank Vice President of Commercial Lending Alex Goodpaster said.
Goodpaster's bank has processed roughly 1,600 applications so far, and he said the process has become much smoother.
"One of the misunderstandings on a lot of people’s part when it first came out, they heard you can pay your rent, utilities, things like that, which are true, but you can’t put those numbers in your calculation,” Goodpaster said.
If the applicant is a sole proprietor, there’s even more of a challenge, according to Goodpaster.
"One of the things they have to have is they have to have their 2019 schedule C completed," he said. "Because of the allowance to defer your tax filing to July, a lot of those folks don’t have their 2019 tax returns done."
Goodpaster said the application process is all done online and advises businesses to apply as soon as possible, because these loans are distributed on a first-come-first-served basis.
"With a little bit of support and a wing and a prayer here, maybe we’ll all just make it through,” said Simmons.
The Paycheck Protection Program will resume accepting applications Monday.