[ad_1]
DENVER — For the primary time in over a 12 months, Shannon Hardenbrook looks like she’s lastly on extra secure floor.
“I used to be in a position to carry again workers and truly begin paying folks once more as a substitute of asking my household to volunteer,” stated Hardenbrook, proprietor of The Mac Shack, a connoisseur mac and cheese meals truck with a brick and mortar location.
She’s operated the enterprise for 4 years. Throughout the pandemic whereas truck gross sales declined, her brick and mortar location misplaced much more income.
“On the meals truck, we dropped about 70%. Within the brick and mortar, 90%,” she stated.
To keep away from closing her standalone restaurant, Hardenbrook, like different small enterprise homeowners, utilized for a slew of federal monetary assist.
“We have been two months away, two months away from depleting our financial savings utterly,” Hardenbrook stated. “We acquired each of the PPP loans, which undoubtedly helped us, nevertheless, that went to pay our workers and never our lease.”
She additionally utilized for cash by way of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, provided by the Small Enterprise Administration to assist eligible companies impacted by COVID-19.
The SBA had stated women-owned, veteran-owned, socially and economically disadvantaged-owned and people owned by folks of undeserved populations could be prioritized. As well as, an emphasis was positioned on small, mom-and-pop retailers.
Throughout the nation, greater than 100,000 eating places have been awarded $28.6 billion. Hardenbrook’s enterprise was not one among them, however about 17,000 others in Colorado did obtain cash.
On Tuesday, the fund officially closed.
In response to RRF award allocation data, in Colorado, three Golden Corral places obtained a mixed $6.5 million. A number of smaller grants went to franchisees of enormous chains, like Dunkin’ Donuts, CiCi’s Pizza and Subway.
“I am slightly stunned that it is a small enterprise grant program, and I would not actually take into account any individual that owns 20 places, or 5, or seven places actually small enterprise,” Hardenbrook stated.
Denver7 reached out to the SBA’s Colorado workplace for extra particulars on how awards have been chosen.
The Colorado Restaurant Affiliation instructed Denver7 they’re pushing for Colorado’s legislators to approve the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021, so extra eating places can obtain assist.
“I hope all of them vote to replenish the grants,” Hardenbrook stated. “I imply, we have been shut down principally by way of no fault of our personal.”
[ad_2]
Source link
