Paycheck Protection Loans

I have been doing some interesting reading lately…and I‘m not the only one.

If you google Paycheck Protection Loan data, you can find everyone who received a loan from the government because of money lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.

I just wish everyone in Jasper County who got a loan would put an ad in the local paper, and we would be in great shape. For that matter, it would be nice if they had a business license in the city or county. I believe many of them do not.

I bet the Chamber of Commerce membership could double if those businesses realized what a benefit it is to belong to the Chamber. Likewise, the Downtown Development Authority could likely use some of those individuals to bolster their group.

It’s amazing how many beauty shops we have here. And how does one find these shops? It’s certainly not through the newspaper. I guess you can google beauty shops in Monticello and some of them would come up. But, I just googled beauty/barber shops in Monticello, GA, and only two came up. Where are the rest?

And, there’s a taxi service. There’s many a day I wish I’d known about that. Just think how much business that service would get if was advertised and everyone knew about it.

There are so many kinds of businesses I can’t begin to name them all, it just seemed like there were a lot of beauty and barber shops. I recognize some of the names listed, and it is news to me that a particular individual has a barber shop.’

And the landscaping services, janitorial services, photography studios, car washes, interior designers, you name it—I never knew we had such a plethora of businesses in this fair community.

My business is on the list, as are lots of Monticello businesses. I have no doubt that many of them desperately needed the funds, as we did.

But, there’s so many that I never thought of. I don’t believe many of them have the required zoning…maybe that’s why they don’t advertise. And, I guess they get clients somewhere; I just wonder how many more they would have if it was publicized.

I’m sure some of the businesses are not legitimate. I’m sorry to say that, but some people see a chance at “free money” and jump onboard. I, for one, really needed the funds, and would be unable to pay them back. They were disbursed to my employees as required.

I notice that some of the loans, like mine, went through the Bank of Monticello, some through Ameris, and a bunch through lenders I’ve never heard of. Interesting. Where did these people find the lender?

It’s disturbing that I hear someone came into the community and offered to help locals get these loans, and in return the local individuals paid a handsome fee—perhaps as much as half of what they received. I hope that’s not true, but there certainly seems to be a pattern.

When you review the list of loans, it’s interesting. Some of them say, “This loan has been disbursed by the lender and has not yet been fully repaid or forgiven.” While others say, “This loan’s status is reported by the SBA as “Paid in Full,” which includes both loans repaid and those fully forgiven from repayment under PPP guidelines.”

I don’t know if those not yet repaid will be, or if they are being investigated further.

I got a press release about a south Georgia man who was indicted on fraud for PPP loans, and is facing much jail time and fines. I wonder what will happen next.