The spring of 2020 will be remembered in history books as the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemics are not new to Newberry. Some weeks ago the Newberry County Historical Society’s Facebook page shared excerpts from The Newberry Observer archives about the great influenza epidemic in 1918. In some ways, lives do continue unchanged after great disasters, but in other respects things do not go “back to normal.”
This time, as in the 1918 influenza epidemic, our medical resources have been taxed and lives have been lost, some of them our friends or neighbors. Communities across our state and our country are struggling to understand and stay informed as new advice, opinions, pure speculations and directives arise daily. But, unlike our forebears a century ago, technology allows each of us a much greater volume of information to process each day. This heightened awareness is a two-edged sword.
About a month ago I wrote optimistically about new funding soon to be made available by the Federal Government, some of it directly from the SBA and the U.S. Treasury, and other funding through commercial lenders with backing by the SBA. The billions of dollars in these loan packages were mind-boggling. The responses and the number of applicants were equally mind-boggling. Computer systems crashed. Banks balked at participating, fearing their back-office staff would be overwhelmed, and they were. Larger “small businesses” elbowed ahead of the mom-and-pop stores on every Main Street across the country. Rules were changed mid-process — what was the plan today was not the plan tomorrow.
As I write this column tonight, Sunday April 26, a second wave of more billions is about to become available. A portion of these funds will first go toward fulfilling PPP loan requests already in the pipeline, I am told. Then new applicants can get in line. But that’s today. By the time you read this, there may be a different process. Another portion of the funds will be directed toward EIDL Loans, again those in the pipeline first, then to new applicants. Regarding the EIDL loans, the pipeline has not been fully quantified, and it is possible that there will be no second round of applications.
Reminding you that I write here as an individual, albeit someone with insight into how these loans are rolling out, rather than speak optimistically I must caution the small business owners to apply for what funding is available, but prepare to be declined, not because your business is less deserving or less qualified, but just because there are so many businesses being impacted by the mandated shut-downs.
So, stand up, stretch a bit, pour yourself that elixir of the south, a tall glass of sweet tea, step out onto the porch and sip your tea and breathe deeply. Let your mind wander to that store of yours downtown, that machine shop on the highway, the workshop out behind your rural home, that restaurant where folks always brag about their favorite menu item, that small plant where a dozen or so people come to work each day and make something people needed. You have been building a business community and that community still exists, although temporarily disrupted.
Now begin to think about what can happen soon. Can you re-open your store? Can you give shoppers more space inside? Can you make it harder for them to touch every piece of merchandise, but still find products they want? How will you make them feel certain your shop is safe? Will employees feel safe working in your factory or restaurant? How can you do the “deep-cleaning” that you’ve been hearing about? What if your employees cannot return to work because the children are not going back to school this term? Yes, there are a lot of “what ifs.”
Make lists; talk to each other; share ideas, plans, information. If you have not done so yet, you could even Zoom with a few others. Don’t squander your energy, either physically or mentally, by fretting about things over which you have no control. Do not feed the maw of the ravenous social media platforms. Instead, remember that you are all still part of the same vibrant community that was here on New Year’s Day, when I wrote an early column about making resolutions for your businesses. Lay that earlier resolution list aside for now and make a new one. You are a strong community and you will get through this crisis together.
If I can help, I will gladly do so.
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