Weathering this Storm: Paycheck Protection and Your Team

Last week we spoke to the importance of being proactive, how keeping your recruiting efforts going during this time will allow your firm, agency or company to be prepared to take full advantage of the overflow of business poised to flow into the economy. You have built your team, person by person, talented piece by talented piece, designed it to generate your own brand of top-quality service. Everything you provide carries your signature because of them. They are essential.

The cost of losing someone is not only a massive financial hit but also means having to take the time to locate, evaluate and go through the essential—but costly—process of onboarding. Having to replace a member of a team you built, a team that knows and depends on each other, a group that feels the success of its individual members in a collective way, that is a disruption which takes valuable time to recover from. 

The possibility of having to lose any valued leaders and staff to these circumstances is not a prospect any of us want to consider, but a situation doesn’t just go away because we want it to. That being said, you have options that could allow you to preserve your company’s current cultural dynamic and will provide some stability in an uncertain time.

PPP (Paycheck Protection Program)

A product of the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security), $349 billion has been put towards federally guaranteed business loans for institutions employing 500 people or fewer—including self-employed, sole proprietors and nonprofits. The program is designed to fund payroll and other operating expenses, such as employee healthcare and other benefits. There are a minimum of restrictions and if you use the funds to retain your current employees, the loans are not required to be repaid. Businesses have to have been in operation prior to February 15, 2020.

SBA Express Bridge Loans 

The Small Business Association has developed an Express Bridge Loan Pilot Program which will allow those businesses already affiliated with an SBA Express Lender to get up to $25,000 quickly while waiting for a decision on the SBA Economic Injury Disaster loans offered to help business and homeowners to recover from declared disasters. 

Economic Injury Disaster Loan Emergency Advance

The $10,000 advance is designed to provide relief to small businesses experiencing a temporary loss in revenue. It is available nationally and in all places that qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans. This program follows similar guidelines to PPP but may include businesses with more than 500 employees, depending on the industry, and if the application is successful, the advance does not have to be repaid. 

The Small Business Association also offers a host of debt-relief options and more details on the aforementioned options on their website, sba.gov.  

If you feel the way I do, the folks you’ve hired and taken the time to know professionally and personally are more than just some people who work for you. Your work family is not only essential in helping you carry out the work you’re passionate about, but also a huge support system in your life. Keeping your work family together is not just a professional imperative that keeps your business going the way you like, delivering what you need it to; it is an effort that will benefit both your professional and personal lives. 

At The James Allen Companies, we want you to be aware of every possible program and resource that will keep you whole and help you weather this difficult economic period.