CANTON — Uncertainty continues to be the theme as St. Lawrence County pushes forward with the pandemic’s new normal.
While the shock of the COVID-19 shutdowns and initial confusion of reopening is in the past for some businesses, questions on how to continue on and where things go are constant, as well as ever-changing.
Hundreds of businesses in St. Lawrence County received loans through the Paycheck Protection Program — the product of one of the early rounds of federal stimulus measures. One of the cornerstones of the program was loans would be forgiven if they were spent covering payroll, mortgage interest payments, rent or utilities. But now that those funds have been disbursed, there’s not much clarity on how exactly businesses can ensure they’re forgiven.
“It’s kind of an interesting sort of unknown period where the funds have been received and nobody has really gone through the forgiveness process,” St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency CEO Patrick J. Kelly said at a meeting of the group’s board Friday. “It’s certainly been discussed and it’s on everybody’s radar and they’re having specific bank to bank discussions about which form they use and how they apply for the forgiveness portion.”
Mr. Kelly said he’s waiting on guidance from the Small Business Administration, then will be able to field out more information about the forgiveness process to what he estimates are about 500 businesses in the county to have received funds under the program.
Meanwhile, he said the IDA continues to assist businesses in other ways. Last month, the agency hosted a digital zoom mixer with business leaders to discuss some best practices and other ideas for managing amid COVID. Later this month will be another digital event focusing on helping owners understand the science behind the virus and how their safety efforts can be maximized.
Mr. Kelly told the board that from the onset of the pandemic, the IDA has been trying to make one-on-one interactions with owners looking for advice a priority. He said the office fielded calls from businesses that usually don’t fit directly into some of the agency’s development-focused missions like salons and restaurants.
“One of the biggest challenges is ‘I read this on Monday, I hear this on Tuesday, then on Wednesday somebody tells me something different and I’m hearing three or four different sets of rules, guidelines,’” Mr. Kelly pointed out. “Everybody’s isolated right now as it is. Let’s try to cut through that isolation by having direct contact. Then a lot of what we were doing is referring people.”
"assistance" - Google News
October 11, 2020 at 04:00AM
https://ift.tt/30TQWTP
St. Lawrence County IDA continues assistance to businesses amid COVID - NNY360
"assistance" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Ne4zX9
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "St. Lawrence County IDA continues assistance to businesses amid COVID - NNY360"
Post a Comment