• Home
    • About
      • Home
      • About the Site
      • The Authors
      • Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
      • Email me
    • Reviews
      • List of All Reviews
      • Best of Portland by year
        • Reader Survey: Best of Portland Food 2017
        • Best of Portland 2015
      • Steakhouse Roundup
        • Steakhouse Reviews Introduction
        • El Gaucho Steakhouse
        • Morton’s Steakhouse
        • Ringside Steakhouse
        • Ruth’s Chris
        • Steakhouse – Results
      • Product/Business Reviews
        • Retailer Reviews
        • Product Reviews
    • Topics
      • Food Writing
        • Alcohol Related
          • Beer
          • Wine
          • Spirits
        • April Fools Stories For Portland
        • Contests and Competition
        • Food Memories
        • Travel Writing
      • Authors / Book Reviews
      • Cheese information
      • Interviews: Honest dialog with people in the Portland food industry
      • Portland Food and Restaurant News and Discussion
      • Recipes
    • Guides
      • Guide to Portland coffee
        • Portland Coffee Guide
        • A Map of our favorite Portland coffeehouses
        • Reader Survey: Best Coffeehouses in Portland 2017
      • Guide to Local Wine Shops
      • Guide to Portland Bakeries
      • Guide to Portland Distilleries
      • Guide to Portland’s Beer Shops
    Portland Food and Drink

    Portland Food and Drink

    Restaurant News and Information For Portland Oregon Area Restaurants and Bars

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Send me email!

    Greg Higgins on Payroll Protection Program loans

    By PDX Food Dude Last Update April 24, 2020 1 Comment

    Bread from Greg Higgins PortlandLike everyone, life for us has settled into a nearly hypnotic routine. Not bad mind you, just very different from my recent one as a chef and restaurant owner. Gardening, baking honest loaves in the outdoor oven and reading now fill our days. I make regular visits to our shuttered restaurant and long to hear the hum and bustle of our customers dining and our staff serving them. As I go about my new rhythms in the garden or the kitchen, I ponder what’s in store for the future? Will we ever return to “normal”? Can our vibrant restaurant culture be restored to its place in Portland’s wonderful cultural world?

    Most people know that the CARES Federal Stimulus package has offered to help small businesses recover from the economic duress of this viral outbreak. Many know that the funds quickly ran out before most requests were fulfilled. Not surprisingly, it has come to light that the overwhelming majority of those funds went to corporate chains with loans in the maximum $10 million amount, not to independent small business owners. Fewer people are aware that that might ironically be good news.

    Bread loaves by Greg HIggins PortlandIn reality, the conditions attached to these Payroll Protection Program loans are not really feasible for restaurants to comply with. Once initiated the loans require the business to return to full staffing levels and maintain that level of full-time employees for eight weeks. Reasonable estimates vary, but it looks very likely that Portland-area restaurants and bars will not be able to start doing business until sometime in late July or August and even then, with dramatically reduced occupancy requirements. That will be long after the eight weeks of PPP funding has run out. At that point the loan calculations and payment schedule are determined. So, in actuality, we would be borrowing money to pay our staff when we’re not even operable and then would have to lay everyone off again.

    The new Independent Restaurant Coalition is a group of chefs and restauranteurs who have come together to advocate for change in these PPP conditions and policies. CARES 3.5 has been approved but contains none of the considerations and rewrites we are requesting. It does include an additional $320 billion in PPP funds but without some modifications of the conditions, those funds will not help our plight. We have asked for two specific items:

    First, change the loan origination date to the first day of actual business.
    Second, extend the loan to 3 months after returning to full business levels.

    The restaurant sector represents 11 million workers nationally and its $1 trillion-dollar annual sales are 4% of our country’s Gross Domestic Product. On our local level, it’s intrinsically tied to local agriculture and a myriad of food artisans, fishermen, farmers, ranchers and much more.

    Our community of food folks is inseparable from the Portland and Oregon that we all cherish. We can’t let this stand as it is. The cost to our culture and existence is too high. I can’t picture Portland without our emblematic restaurant scene—can you? I urge everyone to contact our senate and congressional delegates and urge them to support these changes.

    Greg Higgins
    Founder and co-owner, Higgins Restaurant & Bar, Portland, Oregon
    Independent Restaurant Coalition, www.saverestaurants.com

    Related

    Category: Food Writing, Portland Food and Restaurant News and Discussion. Related posts about Higgins Restaurant. More about Greg Higgins.

    Previous Post: « Gabrielle Hamilton on Prune
    Next Post: 2020 James Beard Foundation Nominations Announced »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Michael Gibbons says

      April 25, 2020 at 8:35 am

      Actually, as I read the PPP loan documents, sections 48-50 you do not have to return to full staffing. In other words, You can use the loan funds to cover the payroll of staffing you rehire and simply return the unused portion. For example say you staffed just minimally to reopen for takeout and delivery. Those folks’ payroll costs, including Heath, are covered and rent/mortgage utilities as well. As long as those non payroll items are no greater than 25% of the monies you use.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    © 2023 · PortlandFoodandDrink.com • See Terms of Service and Privacy Policy