Local businesses stay afloat with PPP loans

Hundreds of area businesses, non-profits, and schools receive PPP loans. Many of them would not have been able to keep their doors open or reopen following the COVID shutdowns.

The loans are given out by the Small Business Administration for eligible businesses to pay for costs including payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. The loan amounts range from a hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars.

Schmucker’s restaurant is a tiny diner with a huge reputation in Toledo’s history. Owner Doug Schmucker says the restaurant was operating at only 30% capacity during the initial COVID closures, bringing the business almost to a standstill. The restaurant received a PPP loan at just over $100-thousand dollars. Manager Jessica Mueller says it’s still touch and go. “We've had to give up seating to maintain social distance. And nobody knows what's going to happen which makes it a little more unreliable.”

Toledo Clinic also received a PPP loan of $10 million dollars to keep its operations going because elective procedures were suspended because of COVID. Mike D’Eramo is the Chief Operating Officer. “We furloughed around 400 of our staff. The business was down 50%. Now were able to bring back most of those 400 employees pretty quickly as a result of that loan program.

A lot of private schools and non-profits also received the funds to keep operations running. “A lot of non-profits that are providing a service and also employ a lot of people,” says Father Geoff Rose who is the President of St. Francis High School. Father Rose says the funding is being used exactly how it’s intended. “I think when people think of schools they think of teachers which is our largest employee group. But we also have maintenance, and clerical and development and coaching staff. We do over 150 W-2's every year.”