The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the owners of small businesses in the Milwaukee area to adapt in ways they had not anticipated.
This week, the Milwaukee Business Journal published Small Business, Big Mission, a series completed in conjunction with all the other newsrooms in the American City Business Journals network. The series follows the owners of small businesses across the country and chronicles their experiences during this health and economic crisis.
Two of the Milwaukee-area business owners joined the Milwaukee Business Journal podcast this week to share more of their stories. Hear their stories in the player below.
Mary Isbister, co-owner and president of fabricator GenMet Corp., said her firm finished 2019 up 15% in revenue and anticipated a strong year in early 2020. That changed in April, Isbister said.
Though the business was deemed essential under Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order and could therefore continue operating, she said two of GenMet’s top five customers deferred their orders for an undetermined amount of time, causing a 40% drop in revenue.
RELATED: Read all of the Milwaukee Business Journal's coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
“I think the part that was the scariest is just not knowing when things would turn around,” Isbister said.
Jeff Binkert is the president of House of Harley-Davidson. He said the first impact his business experienced was disruption in its parts supply.
“The second shoe to drop, so to speak, really occurred when the shutdown began, and the nervousness ran up,” Binkert said.
Later in the podcast, Husch Blackwell LLP partner Jessica Zeratsky shared updated information about the Paycheck Protection Program and the forgiveness application process. Among other facets of the forgivable loan program, Zeratsky suggested all borrowers should be compiling the documents the U.S. Small Business Administration says must accompany a loan forgiveness application.
“That includes specific payroll records and full-time-equivalent employee documentation and documentation verifying various non-payroll costs,” she said. “Having all of this information readily available will hopefully aid the borrower when it comes time to complete its application.”
RELATED: Wisconsin businesses cancel some PPP loans
As noted on the podcast, the information provided was current as of the recording. Since this segment was recorded, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday in favor of changes to the PPP that would add flexibility for borrowers.