SLIDE 7 Chaffee County Economic Recovery Team Observations, Resources, and Assessment of Current Grant & Loan Programs (MEETING SUMMARY) AUDIO RECORDING OF MEETING: Click Here. Thursday, April 9, the Chaffee County Economic Recovery Team hosted its first Special Update segment with the Salida Business Alliance, BV Chamber, SBDC, and Salida Chamber. Recording and text can be found on the Salida, Buena Vista Chambers of Commerce and Salida Business Alliance websites. Dave Blazer, Chair of the Chaffee County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) moderated the
- discussion. Guests included Jamie Billesbach, Director of the Central Mountain Small Business
Development Center (SBDC) and Joe Smith, Vice President for Commercial Lending, High Country Bank (HCB). Rachel Pokrandt, Vice President of Colorado Mountain College (CMC) was scheduled to provide a brief statement of CMC’s role to assist in the recovery. However, in the interest of time she was deferred until the next meeting. Sixty nine (69) participants were identified as having joined the meeting. Following a brief overview of the background and purpose of the Recovery Team, Dave discussed the
- ngoing need to provide relevant and timely information to the business community in Chaffee County.
This meeting will be the first of several ongoing efforts hosted by the CCEDC in conjunction with our partners in an effort to facilitate the recovery. Rather than commit to a regular schedule, Dave stressed the need to provide information that is timely and useful. Jamie was the first presenter and covered in some depth the major programs that the federal government is deploying to assist small business. She discussed several slides which can also be accessed on the websites of both Chambers, SBDC, and Salida Business Alliance. The main point of the presentation was to highlight the current programs available (PPP and EIDL grant/loan). Please review the slides and the presentation and contact the SBDC for one-on-one consultation with one of several
- counselors. One of her counselors provided a brief overview of some of the programs available to
employees (and soon to be sole proprietors and independent contractors) as well as highlighting some
- f the unemployment options. Jamie acknowledged that due to the volume and the necessity of rolling
- ut the federal programs before they were fully prepared, has caused some fits and starts.
Finally, Joe Smith from High Country Bank characterized his perspective on the banks involvement in the initial phase of the program as “a junk show, miserable, and confusing”. As a long-standing SBA lender he is working with the program but is experiencing delays in getting the correct guidance from the SBA. It now appears that interim regulations are in place, and getting the proper paperwork from businesses is the key to processing loan applications. He indicated one of the hurdles is the banks have to do their due diligence and businesses need to come with as much documentation as possible to have a successful application submitted. He is hopeful that as the program moves forward additional clarification will be provided and the loan processing will become more understandable and manageable.
