KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Starting on Monday, businesses can apply for Paycheck Protection Program loans, as $284 billion is up for grabs to help them survive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It's been a long time coming for several KC metro small businesses, including Mills Record Company and Wiseblood Books in Westport.
"I'm absolutely going to apply for it," Judy Mills, who owns the record company, said, "because we talked about less revenue, because we've had to close, we have less hours now. We have to have less customers, so there's definitely been a loss of revenue. There's also been an increase in expenses."
Mills said the first time she applied for the loans at the beginning of the pandemic, it helped save jobs.
"I was able to bring people back, and I wouldn't have been able to in terms of the amount of revenue that we were taking in," Mills said.
Another business down the street, Doggy Style Bowtique, also received a PPP loan to help them survive.
"I was able to keep paying my employees who also lost their jobs for that eight weeks [when businesses had to shut down], and they didn't have anything and neither did I," Owner Gretchen Miller said. "So it helped everybody it was very nice."
But not every small business that applies will be accepted. Certain parameters must be met, such as the business has no more than 300 employees and must have experienced at least a 25% reduction in gross receipts in a quarter between 2019 and 2020.
More information about applying for a PPP loan, can be found on the Small Business Administration website.
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