Paycheck Protection Program helps Small Business Bring Employees Back to Work

Troy Rutherford, owner of Dave’s Famous T&L Hotdog in Shinnston and Weston, looks forward to Spring each year as it is the company’s busy season. Unfortunately, this Spring brought a once in a lifetime pandemic instead of the annual surge of customers. 

COVID-19 significantly impacted the sales for Dave’s Famous T&L Hotdog. Like other small restaurants in West Virginia, Rutherford was forced to close the dining room. He adapted to this new reality by adding additional services including free delivery and pivoting his marketing plan to increase his online budget. Sales continued to decrease, requiring a cut back in employee hours as the lower profits made it difficult to cover payroll.

Rutherford turned to the Small Business Administration-approved lender Premier Bank to secure a Paycheck Protection Program loan for $55,000, which helped him keep his employees on payroll at the same hours and pay rate as before the pandemic and helped cover rent and utilities for eight weeks.

“With the PPP we were able to bring four employees back that weren’t working, return four employees to their normal hours, and hire four additional employees,” Rutherford said. “Jason Turner and his staff at Premier Bank were incredible to work with and we received the PPP funds within 10 days of closing.”