VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — John Warren figured he could ratchet up his business quickly earlier this year. He opened Hi Tech automotive in January.
“The first two months, we were hitting on all eight cylinders,” Warren said.
But then his temporary success had to hit the brakes. The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 had Warren barely scraping by and the flow of money had almost completely dried up.
“The corona hit and it dropped off 80 percent of our business,” he said.
He was scrambling to pay his six employees, not to mention the rent and the utility bills. He had to apply for a loan from the Paycheck Protection Plan. At first, it was a lot of paperwork, but not a lot of progress. That’s when his established relationship with his lender, the manager at Towne Bank in Hilltop, got his business running again.
“She had contacted us almost daily when we were applying for the loan, because it took so long and getting WAVY 10 involved, all of a sudden it just happened overnight.”
Warren was able to get a forgivable loan for more than $22,000 to cover his payroll and expenses for more than two months.
Eventually the business will turn over to Warren’s son, who’s happy to see there’ll be something to inherit.
“Everything is going a lot smoother,” said John Warren, Jr. “And I’m actually able to get some sleep at night.”
Warren is now in the process of documenting to the SBA that he used the money for payroll and expenses so that the loan will be forgiven.
Click here for SBA resources for pandemic relief loans.