WCYB5 | VA 30 Day Fund provides forgivable loans to small businesses

BRISTOL, Va. — Private investors are stepping up to help small businesses in Virginia struggling because of the conavirus pandemic.

“A lot of our bills keep going, but our sales have died,” Jennifer Bailey said.

Jennifer and her husband, Greg, own Sugar Hill Brewing Company in St. Paul and Sugar Hill Cidery in Norton, They were forced to adjust business at both locations as the pandemic hit.

“We’ve been trying to adapt with different meals and with things that people can come in and get for their families, so they don’t have to cook at night, they can just heat it up. We’ve tried to think outside the box.,” Jennifer said.

They are among thousands of small business owners struggling because of state stay-at-home orders. Greg told News 5 they have had to put some of their new business ventures and expansions on hold.

“We just got our bottling machine in, trained in January, were going to be on Food City shelves in southwest Virginia, and it started sucking our bottling money down,” Greg said.

Now they have received word of approval of a loan from the Virginia 30 Day Fund.

“[We have] tried to put something together to get money very quickly to companies to get them over what I call Death Valley over the next couple of weeks,” Pete Snyder said.

Pete Snyder is the Chief Executive Office of Disruptor Capital. He and other private investors created the fund to provide an immediate cash infusion to small businesses.

“That’s to help them pay the rent or help them keep that extra employee on so they don’t have to fire them or furlough them or even to pay the health care of their employees,” Snyder said.

The transfer of money to local businesses is almost immediate after their application approval.

“Fifty percent of the Commonwealth’s budget comes from small businesses, and fifty percent of small business don’t have more than two weeks of cash on hand. If you have your doors shut for one month or two months, you’re on death’s door,” Snyder said.

Local legislators are glad to see the help coming to the region.

“I could be an actual lifeline for small businesses,” Delegate Israel O’Quinn said. O’Quinn, a Republican, represents Virginia’s 5th District in the House of Delegates.

“Sometimes just having enough money to get you through the next 30 days or so is key to sustaining your business and keeping it afloat in an unprecedented time like this,” O’Quinn added.

The $3,000 loans are forgiveable. To be eligible, applicants must operate their business in the Commonwealth and be a Virginia resident.

Business who qualify must be operational for a year and employ between 3 and 30 workers.

“We’re looking really to measure folks that impact the community and how do we make sure that when we pull out of it because we, as Americans, are going to pull out of this, how we have a real economy left. If half of Main Street is shut down, that’s going to be horrible,” Snyder said.

Snyder told News 5 they were able to fund more than three dozen businesses in three days, and that number continues to grow. He said, as an entrepreneur himself, he is hopeful the economy will bounce back. Small business owners are preparing for the same.

“I think we will go forward, we’ll pick back up. We will have learned something. Everything we go through, we always learn something. We will have learned how to do things a little bit better,” Jennifer Bailey said.

Virginia business owners can apply here.