LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Carolyn and Erwin Kollegger are the owners of Out West Adventure Tours, a private tour company that takes visitors from all over the world to state and national parks around Las Vegas. The company is now suffering the financial consequences of the novel coronavirus crisis.
When they heard about the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) from the Small Business Administration (SBA), they applied to both.
These options were given by the federal government to help small businesses in the country to continue with their operations, including paying their employees.
However, today it was announced that EIDL ad PPP are not accepting any more applications due to lack of funding while thousands of business owners have not received any help.
For the PPP, there was a $349 billion limit.
“There’s big companies that got millions and millions and CEO’s that got bonuses and we’re scraping... we're trying just to hold our basic life together, and now we're hearing there’s no more money or what they were going to give to us," said Carolyn Kollegger.
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Today, she received a reply from the SBA here in Nevada, saying that they’re waiting for new appropriations from Congress to fund both programs. But in the meantime, she says she doesn’t know what she’ll do to survive since right now she’s on what she calls maintenance mode.
According to Sen. Jacky Rosen, more than $1.2 billion were distributed to around 4,200 business in the state by the Paycheck Protection Program.
While the SBA website is no longer taking applications for both programs due to lack of funding, those who already applied will need patience.
Joseph Amato, district director of SBA Nevada, says that “everyone who’s filed an application if they haven’t been funded yet, they’re in an active queue. In most cases, they already have received their E-Tran certification that the loan has been basically put through the SBA system and what these lenders are going to be waiting for is, as Sen. Rosen has said, is the next round of funding."
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In a webinar hosted by the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce, they both addressed the current situation of the SBA coronavirus funding loans, including when could we see more funding approved by Congress.
“We have a unanimous consent that that could be put on the floor of the house and senate, as quickly as possible to get the funding back a possible because we know that people are hurting," said Sen. Jacky Rosen.
If you’re a small business owner, you can contact Joseph Amato at the Small Business Administration here in Nevada at 702-388-6611.
