DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — It may not be a ton of money, but it can serve as a safety net for small businesses struggling in De Pere.
“Being that it is a zero-interest loan program,” said Daniel Lindstrom, De Pere’s Director of Development Services. “You may not need it if we are up and running in the next few months and they can pay it back if they need to in advance, but it does provide those businesses with cushion.”
The City is offering a $5,000 loan for businesses with less than 20 employees and a $10,000 loan for businesses with more than 20 employees.
Both have a loan period of up to four years and deferred payments for up to 12 months.
“We heard the need right off the bat was we needed to protect the employees,” said Lindstrom. “Obviously, the federal government has come out with many programs to help that line and often time those pools have already dried up.”
The program has $500,000 available. Lindstrom says 35 businesses have applied for about $200,000 so far affecting 350 employees.
“We have funds that are readily still available for businesses that need it,” he said. “We’ve heard businesses that are really appreciative of it, but we’ve also heard from businesses who are a little reluctant to take on another loan and that’s understandable.”
One of those businesses is Pedretti Power Yoga that’s shutting down after ten years.
“Being in debt when I opened my first studio, build out and move on to my bigger studio, I feel like I can’t go backwards at this point and incur debt, because of the uncertainty of repaying debt,” said Allie Pedretti, the owner and founder.
In addition to not wanting to take on any debt that comes with receiving a loan, Pedretti said she was told her class sizes would be much smaller than what she needed to stay afloat.
“For anyone who has got a good, solid business plan without having a lot of overhead, I think those, knowing they can go back to their almost old way of doing business, I think those loans are great, said Pedretti. “Those programs are wonderful. For somebody like me who had to rewrite their business plan with ten or less in a class for maybe six to eighteen months, maybe upward, that is not a good move to incur debt.”
Lindstrom said a small business applying for a $5,000 loan should expect monthly payments of about $180 a month.
Applicants with existing loans with the city would have those deferred for 120 days.
