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‘Everyone wants to be in line’: Small business loans not quick fixes for owners

WATERING CAN ART Studio owner MJ Ayson-Lemon is shown with her pottery wheels at the business in Grand Central Mall in Vienna, W.Va. Ayson-Lemon applied for and received a Payroll Protection loan through a local bank and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

VIENNA, W.Va. — In October, MJ Ayson-Lemon purchased the Vienna location of the Pottery Place from the former owner after managing the walk-in ceramics and canvas studio for four years.

She renamed it the Watering Can Art Studio, added more art classes and in January, she remodeled it into the “art studio I’ve always dreamed of.”

On Monday, she signed the documents for a Small Business Administration loan to help keep the dream going as businesses around the country struggle to adapt to the new realities of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This gives me breathing room,” Ayson-Lemon said, noting it will allow her to continue paying her nearly one dozen part-time employees and full-time assistant manager. “I planned on keeping them on payroll until I couldn’t pay them anymore. … I think I would have been good for three payroll periods until I would have had to stop.”

The Paycheck Protection loan program was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act passed in March.

The loans are for up to $10 million, with an interest rate of 1 percent. They can be fully or partially forgiven if the recipient shows the money went to retain or rehire employees and pay some overhead expenses through June 30.

Banks started accepting applications for the loans on April 3. Technical issues with the SBA’s website for the program, high demand and still-developing regulations made the process uneven for applicants and lenders alike.

Ayson-Lemon said the process was “a little harrowing” to start, with the biggest challenge getting all the needed documents together. She said she was grateful for the assistance of the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley, the Contemporary Ceramics Studio Association and her local bank in navigating the process.

But even then, some uncertainty remained.

Ayson-Lemon declined to disclose how much she received but said it was enough to cover two-and-a-half pay periods. She was expecting more, but said it seemed like the details changed after her initial application.

“I’m grateful for whatever I get,” she said.

Ogden Newspapers, parent company of The Daily News, has created a COVID-19 Reporting Team from throughout its publications to help tell the story of what’s happening in communities and regions on a broader level during the coronavirus pandemic. Evan Bevins of the Parkersburg News and Sentinel in Parkersburg, W.Va., can be reached at localnewsmatters@ogdennews.com.

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