LEON SPRINGS, Texas — There have been many reports of small businesses that have applied for and been denied loans through the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program. Cryofit in Leon Springs, however, has had better luck.
Steven Nevils, co-owner of Cryofit in Leon Springs, says of the four full-time and part-time employees, he's mostly been the only one in the building since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The business has stayed open with reduced hours. Nevils says in April he saw a decrease in revenue of more than 60%. While he's been able to stay afloat, he doesn't know how long things could have stayed the way they've been.
When he heard about the SBA Paycheck Protection Program, Nevils applied right away. After a few weeks, he got approved, and a few days after that, the funds were in his account. His loan was a little more than $23,000.
"Now we're going to figure out the next couple of steps and work on getting some of out employees back, hopefully. And then kind of get closer to back to normal," Nevils said.
Without this or some other kind of assistance, Nevils says many small businesses might not have survived. But even with the loan, he's still ultimately dependent on people.
"It's no secret that big businesses are great," said Nevils. "But it's the small businesses... we're sort of the backbone of a lot of things and a lot of communities. So it's important to get out there and patronize small businesses."