Wheeling West Virginia Entrepreneur Utilizes Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance and Paycheck Protection Program to stay open and pay local vendors

Matt Welsch is the owner of Vagabond Kitchen located in the heart of beautiful, downtown Wheeling. Welsch opened Vagabond Kitchen in 2014 and has experienced great success with his business including being a $20k winner of “Guy’s Grocery Games” on the Food Network. Welsch is also no stranger to SBA, he has worked with an SBDC coach since 2014, utilized an SBA microloan through the First Microloan of West Virginia, and is a 2019 graduate of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Emerging Leaders program.  However, nothing could have prepared him for the challenges his small business would face due to the current health crisis.

 Vagabond Kitchen has experienced a 70 percent loss in business due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The small business has gone from being open seven days a week with a staff of 18 to being open four days a week with a staff of six. Welsch, with the help of his West Virginia Small Business Development Center coach, was able to apply for and receive the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan(EIDL) Advance and the Paycheck Protection Program loan through BB&T. Welsch prides himself in serving locally sourced food, therefor the funds from the EIDL Advance was used to send out two dozen checks to local businesses for goods and services that otherwise wouldn’t be able to be paid. Not only did the EIDL Advance help Vagabond Kitchen, the footprint of the funding spread much further into the community to help other small businesses as well.  The Paycheck Protection Program loan will be used to bring back employees and rehire open positions.

 “This experience has been scary and challenging,” stated Welsch. “But it has given me the opportunity to figure out how to be more flexible and implement a lean business model.”