Local businesses to receive extension to Paycheck Protection Program
News 11's Adonis Albright speaks with a local bakery owner in Yuma about how the business is staying afloat
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Now that President Trump has signed the COVID-19 relief bill into law, small businesses across the U.S. are set to receive hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans through an extension to the Paycheck Protection Program.
In Yuma County, many businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic, including Sweet Doce Brazil, a local bakery located inside the Yuma County Library District. The owner, Regiane Johnson, has owned her business for five years. The library closed to the public a couple months ago, and along with it, so too did the bakery.
Johnson said she had two employees before the pandemic, but now it's just her behind the counter, because she cannot afford to bring them back.
“I’m hoping that I will be able to stay, I think the worst already passed, at least for me because now we’re back open. But yes, it’s definitely slow here and hopefully the second one I can bring back my employees and everything goes back to normal, that’s what I’m hoping for", said Johnson.
Johnson also received the first loan granted by the Paycheck Protection Program back in April, but said that the money quickly dried out by July or August. She's just one of many small business owners who hope 2021 will help bring back a sense of normalcy.
