Sabal Palm Bank has been fortunate to help over 800 local small businesses with over $75 million in loans since these challenging times began a few months ago. This has allowed us to fund over 8,500 local jobs and help get our local small businesses back to work. These business owners have proven to be determined and steadfast as we have seen their livelihoods shaken, and now are on the path to be rebuilt. We want to share some of their comments about their journeys and we hope you will join us as we continue to support our local businesses.
Kris Chana owns and operates four local businesses that were affected by the COVID-19 shut-downs: Chelsea Place Retirement Living, Chelsea Place Adult Day Care, Chelsea Place Senior Care and Chelsea Place Home Care. While all of his businesses were impacted, one was crippled as they went from their best month to having to close down and watch revenues drop to zero. "We were so concerned about the future and how we would weather the storm. We received a massive lifeline that we desperately needed thanks to the dedication and going above and beyond in every single way by Sabal Palm Bank. There is no other bank in town, that I know, that did what you guys did to help us get our PPP Loan." All four of Kris' businesses received PPP Loans from Sabal Palm Bank and are on their way back.
A family owned and operated business since 2012, Veteran Plumbing, became a new customer of the bank when they needed a PPP Loan and they couldn't get one from their existing bank. Darrin and Sharlene Trent, co–owners and both US Navy Veterans, said they have a new appreciation for community banking after dealing with their former bank with no response and no communication. "Dealing with a bank that we can see and talk to makes life a lot easier. Now we can focus on the things we need to grow our business." Darrin and Charlene have been able to keep all of their employees working because of their PPP loan and they anticipate a long banking relationship with Sabal Palm.
As a Venice small business owner, Terri Ramey from Ramey Insurance says she was faced with uncertain times due to COVID-19 shutdowns, prompting her to reach out to Sabal Palm Bank for a PPP Loan. "I was amazed at the level of professionalism and compassion. I was funded in a short period of time and was relieved I had a safety net in place. I was able to keep all of my employees working. Sabal Palm has taken the words 'Community Bank', to the next level. Thank you for being there for us Sabal Palm."
We are so pleased to have been a part of so many stories like these; stories of people working together to find a way out of the other side of this pandemic. And though it isn't over yet, we will continue to be here for our community as we all figure out how to tackle today's adversity and prosper in the long run.
Moving Forward
Sabal Palm Bank now looks to help our small businesses with the next steps in this process.
The SBA has released two PPP Loan Forgiveness Applications. A lot of time can be spent discussing these two applications but in summary, let me share that they are
both
beneficial to borrowers (you!).
The first application is an update from the original Loan Forgiveness Application that the SBA published last month. It takes into consideration the recent changes made by the Government regarding the loan forgiveness timeline and other requirements.
The second application is a new, short version of the Loan Forgiveness Application. In general, the short version application can be used by those listed below*.
- Self-Employed Individuals
- Independent Contractors
- Sole Proprietors who had no employees
- Certain businesses that did not have any reductions in employees and hours worked along with no more than a 25% reduction in payroll.
*- A thorough description of who is eligible to use the short version application is detailed in the SBA Written Instructions.
Both Applications, as well as the SBA Written Instructions, are also available for review and download
here
.
We also plan to have webinars on both the updated Loan Forgiveness Application and the new short version Loan Forgiveness Application. We will post the dates of these webinars on our website and will also send a follow-up email message with the dates.
Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help you in the meantime. Together, we will stand the test and come out stronger on the other side.
