Small Business Owners Hit Hard By Coronavirus Struggle To Apply For Loans
WEST ROXBURY (CBS) - Angel Diaz does it all these days - delivery person and the owner of a West Roxbury floral shop he opened just before Valentine's Day, thinking his timing was good.
"There are so many things happening now at the same time that I have to take care of," Diaz told WBZ-TV.
Because as soon as he opened Centerpiece Flower Shop, business fell to a trickle amid the coronavirus outbreak. As a new business, he doesn't have much of a paper trail or business history to get a loan. "I am a business owner with no documentation from the previous year that they're asking for."
Second Hand Rose shopowner Lauri Chmielewski is also struggling under the weight of a business shutdown. While the federal government made loan money available to small businesses on March 27, her bank has been slow to get the program up and running so she can submit an application for her Needham store.
"Calling and calling, waiting and waiting, looking for an email; I feel frozen," she said.
The Trump Administration is making $349 billion available as a way to prop up these small businesses, but some worry the money will run out before they have a chance to apply.
"There's one door to go through, and there's a rush to that door," said Steven Dimitriou, managing partner with Mayflower Advisors, LLC.
He says the rollout has been confusing for some banks looking for surety about their loans.
"Banks have to determine what people are attesting to, how to attest to use of the proceeds, etc. There's some confusion about data needed to figure out loan amounts and payroll amounts," said Dimitriou.
Lauri Chmielewski says no other bank will take her on because she's not an existing customer, and Angel Diaz says he's left in the dark.
"For new business owners, there's no information," he said
If the help comes, they hope it won't be too little too late.
