Amy Wright’s coffee business has five locations and about 120 workers, all of whom have intellectual or developmental disabilities. When the Coronavirus pandemic struck, she had to close her stores and temporarily lay off these hardworking employees.
For most of them, Bitty & Beau’s Coffee is their first job. It offers a source of stability and meaningful wages to help them save for the future. Like many Americans these past few months, they felt fear and uncertainty about when the next paycheck would come.
This month, Wright’s small business was approved for a Paycheck Protection Program loan. As a result, “all of our employees are back on the payroll today,” she says.
“At Bitty & Beau's, we like to use the phrase called ‘not broken,’” employee Michael Heup said today. “I know the great country of the United States isn't broken, either.”
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) officially relaunched yesterday. After distributing $350 billion in loans to 1.6 million small businesses earlier this month, the program ran out of funds in just 14 days. Thanks to pressure from President Trump, Congressional Democrats eventually agreed to replenish the popular program. |