A Washington state small business owner is under fire from her employees for receiving two Paycheck Protection Program loans because unemployment pays them more than she is now able to with the relief funding.
Jamie Black-Lewis, the owner of two spas in Washington state, told CNBC that she felt like she won the lottery when she received loans of $177,000 and $43,800 for her businesses via the Paycheck Protection Program. But she soon realized during a virtual meeting with her employees that they weren’t happy about the news that their halted paychecks could resume.
“It was a firestorm of hatred about the situation,” Black-Lewis said.
Employees had determined that they make more money collecting unemployment benefits than they do from their normal paychecks.
The anger came from employees who had determined they’d make more money by collecting unemployment benefits than their normal paychecks.
“It’s a windfall they see coming,” Black-Lewis said. “In their mind, I took it away.”
“I couldn’t believe it,” she added. “On what planet am I competing with unemployment?”
Black-Lewis’s situation is happening all across the country to small businesses that are struggling to keep the doors open.
Mike Ricciardella, who owns three restaurants in the New York hamlet Phoenicia about two hours outside New York City, is wondering when he will be able to open his businesses and if his employees will want to come back rather than collect more money through unemployment.
“I don’t blame them,” Ricciardella told the Washington Examiner about his employees who might be tempted to collect unemployment rather than return to work. “They have to do what’s best for them.”
“It was hard enough to find employees when things were good,” he said. “Now, I don’t know if I’m going to even be able to find enough workers.”
Ricciardella added that he received approval for the loan but is yet to receive it after the first round of funds ran out with the second round expected to come soon.
“All the big businesses are getting the money, and places like Harvard and Columbia are getting the money but not the little guys,” Ricciardella said, referring to reports that Harvard, Shake Shack, Ruth’s Chris, and other large institutions have received funds. “They tell us small businesses are the backbone of America, and here we are.”
Ricciardella, whose family has been in the restaurant business in New York for over 50 years, says other small business owners in his working-class town of roughly 500 people are going through the same situation, and he’s unsure how much longer he can keep his businesses afloat and worries it will take months to return to normal even if the stay-at-home orders are lifted.
The House passed a new small-business spending package on Thursday, containing $484 billion dollars that is expected to be signed by President Trump immediately.
Editor’s note: Mike Ricciardella, who is quoted in this article, is a family member of the editor.
