An aide to Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and one of the sponsors of the proposal, said that Cornyn told the Small Business Administration about her concerns that the last-minute expansion of Congress would overwhelm the program with candidates, leaving very little money for candidates. places he and others intended to benefit from.
An agency spokeswoman declined to comment on how long she expects the money to last. She said employees are “building the ground-floor Operators’ Concession program on the ground floor and establishing initial protections to ensure that these vital concessions are delivered to those the law intends to help”.
Once the program is open, applicants will enter a race for funds.
Most recipients are eligible to collect 45 percent of their 2019 revenue, up to $ 10 million. During the first 14 days, grants will be available only to those with a 90 percent or more loss in revenue between April and December – such as Ms. Tallent’s Orange Peel. Thereafter, applicants with a loss of 70% or more will have a 14-day priority window. These two groups alone can run out of program funding before other candidates – those with losses of at least 25% – can take their turn.
This leaves most business owners facing a complicated choice: should they seek a closed concession or, instead, apply for an exemption from the Check Protection Program? That program was reopened last month, allowing hard-hit companies to seek a second forgivable loan.
Places that obtained a loan through the paycheck program last year are eligible to apply for the grant, but those seeking a loan this year are not. The Small Business Administration said on its board to candidates that they “must make an informed business decision about which program will benefit them the most and apply accordingly”.
Consider Billy Bob’s Texas, an honky-tonk in Fort Worth who obtained a $ 1.1 million loan in April from the Paycheck Protection Program. It closed in March and reopened in August, but its once-profitable corporate sales business failed. Its famous bull riding arena is empty. Still, it is holding smaller concerts, serving dinners and retiring to survive with a capacity of 2,500 people, down from the 6,000 it once had.
“Every week, I feel like we’re changing our business model,” said Marty Travis, the general manager. He estimates that sales in the last eight months of 2020 have dropped by at least 50% from the previous year – enough to qualify for the venue’s concession, but not enough to place the club in either of the first two priority groups. By the time you are allowed to apply, the money may be gone.