The Leader • Saturday, April 4, 2020 • Page 1B
Local businesses can’t miss this opportunity
M
y weekly column doesn’t usually appear on the business page, but given the times and the circumstances and the utter confusion of everything else in our lives, why not mix this up, too? Most weeks, this commentary is directed at our readers and important topics that impact our daily lives. Today, I want to write directly to the businesses in our community – the ones being crippled by COVID-19, stay-at-home orders, and the general malaise gripping this city, this nation and this world. No matter if you own a small business, work for one, or just care about one, the success of the men and women who run small businesses in our community is reliant on having a free and vibrant economy, of which we have neither. Jonathan For those who don’t know, it’s not McElvy hyperbole to say that Publisher our national, state and local economies all depend on the ability of small businesses to sell goods and services. It’s just as important that small businesses get support from the people who live near those businesses. Across the entire United States, 48 percent of all people work for a small business – categorized as any company that has fewer than 500 employees. More impressive, and more pertinent to many of us, is that 18 percent of all employed people in the United States work for a business with fewer than 20 employees. If those numbers don’t register, here’s all you need to know: Half of all employed people in this country work for a small business. It’s more than a touchy, feely, nice story to say that we should support small businesses; our entire economy depends on their See more details success. about applying As we’re all stuck in our for SBA loans homes, teaching our children with no clue how to Page 2B teach, ordering take-out as often as possible, and counting the slow seconds of our clocks, one of the great crises arising from this pandemic is the absolute destruction it has done to small businesses in our community. Earlier this week, there were national headlines that nearly 25 percent of all small businesses will close, based solely on the coronavirus. But that doesn’t have to happen, and the federal government has put a plan in place to extend the life of every business in our community. I have a hard time believing there is a small business out there that doesn’t know about the CARES Act, which was passed last week. But if by chance you do not know, here’s what the stimulus bill has done for small businesses. No matter if a business has been open for 10 years or 10 months, any small business can apply for a forgivable loan that equals 250 percent of one month’s average payroll. If a SMB has a $10,000 per month payroll, that means they can get $25,000 from a local bank. And while this is described as a loan, the federal government (and your local bank) will not make you pay back the loan if you use the money to pay salaries, rent or utilities. There are all kinds of questions being posed right now about how the loan works, and while there’s not enough room to explain the details – that’s what bankers are for – I do want to tell small businesses some of the highlights. First, you’ll need to have good records of your payroll from 2019, or at least the first quarter of 2020, if you’re a new business. For some businesses, that may be difficult, but that doesn’t mean to give up on the loan (more on that later). Second, you need to use your current bank to get these loans. Communicate with that bank today, if you haven’t already. Third, you won’t have to personally guarantee the loan, it won’t be used against your credit, and it won’t hurt you down the line, unless you cash out the money and move to the beach. As members of the U.S. Congress drafted and passed the CARES Act, they really had one purpose in mind: Keep small businesses alive right now and deal with the consequences later. In essence, this is not a stimulus bill, because people can’t go spend money in the economy, thus meaning they can’t stimulate the economy. Instead, this is a lifeline to businesses, designed to help us make it through the next two months. And once those two months are up, I’d wager a pretty penny that government comes back and pushes through another bill that actually starts to put money back in the economy. Our business has always been considered a media group, mainly because we publish newspapers and websites full of news. But one thing people may not know is that our business and our accounting staff work every single day with the small businesses in this community and all across Houston. Like other companies that have transformed what they do, our company has made a transition as well, bringing in a group of accountants who are able to help small businesses get their payroll numbers in order, get their applications completed, get their money, and then spend that money to guarantee the loan is forgiven by the federal government. See McElvy, P. 3B
Off track
Pandemic could derail bullet train project By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the progression of Texas Central’s bullet train project and could end up derailing it. Dallas-based Texas Central, which plans to build a high-speed railway between Dallas and Houston, laid off 28 employees last week, according to multiple reports. CEO Carlos Aguilar said in a March 27 news release that the company is being impacted by the economic downturn associated with the global outbreak of COVID-19, the upper-respiratory disease caused the new coronavirus strain. “Like other companies and organizations around the world, we are trying to make the best use of the funding we currently have, paying close attention to COVID-19 updates and putting plans in place to move our project forward as soon as the world is on the other side of this uncharted territory,” Aguilar said. The former Northwest Mall site near the intersection at U.S. 290 and Loop 610 is the planned Houston station for the bullet train project, which would take passengers between Texas’ two largest cities in a matter of about 90 minutes. Texas Central has said it hopes to break ground on its 240mile railway by the end of this year, and complete construction by 2026, but that timeline could be in jeopardy. The privately funded project, which plans to utilize Japanese railway technology, has investors all over the world and has enlisted an international team. Texas Central announced last September that it had signed a design-build contract with Italian engineering contractor Salini Impregilo and its U.S. subsidiary, Lane Construction Company, worth an estimated $14 billion. Texas Central’s system operator is Renfe, which is based in
Contributed photo Pictured is the N700S, a high-speed train that Texas Central plans to utilize on its proposed railway between Houston and Dallas. The company says its project is being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spain. Italy, Spain and the U.S. have been the hardest-hit countries by COVID-19 in terms of the number of cases. There have been more than 823,000 cases across the globe, according to the World Health Organization, along with more than 40,000 deaths caused by the disease. “This is one of those moments where we have to acknowledge how small our world really is,” Aguilar said. “Our financial partners are in those countries, as well as here in the United States. Understanding the impact of COVID-19, and the challenges those countries and the U.S. are facing, is a new fact of life. We are already implementing work from home and other measures to deal with
the crisis, but still do not know what other impacts this will have.” There are other hurdles Texas Central must clear before seeing its high-speed rail project come to fruition. The company said last fall that it had secured about 30 percent of the land it would need to construct an elevated railway, and there are legal questions about Texas Central’s ability to utilize eminent domain. Texas Central also is awaiting approval from the federal government to move forward. The Federal Railroad Administration must issue a Final Environmental Impact Statement and devise a custom set of rules for the railway that would be used to ensure its safety and govern its system and operations. If and when the project gets to
the point of construction, Texas Central said that work will create 17,000 jobs. “Our immediate next step is to continue working with our partner organizations and federal and state agencies, led by the Federal Railroad Administration, to finalize our permits. The current schedule we have from the federal government anticipates that will happen by July 31,” Aguilar said. “From an execution standpoint, the project is shovel-ready. Once we receive our permit approval, our ability to begin construction will be contingent upon financial entities in the United States, Europe and Japan, all of which are dealing with urgent priorities generated by COVID-19, completing their due diligence process.”
We have been providing property tax services since 1968 for both our residential and commercial clients.
Do you need help protesting your property taxes? Louie Gill, president of the Greater Heights Area Chamber of Commerce, speaks at the chamber’s Economic Forecast Luncheon in January.
Heights chamber deferring dues during pandemic From Staff Reports As area businesses struggle to cope with the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Greater Heights Area Chamber of Commerce is taking steps to relieve them of at least a few burdens. In a Tuesday email sent to members, the chamber informed businesses that they will defer immediate and past due payments for dues and sponsorship fees for a period of 45 days. There also will be no dropping of membership during that time, according to the email.
“We readily understand that you personally and your businesses are being confronted with less than desirable choices. Our goal regarding your membership is to help eliminate worries and concerns, whether they be keeping your business viable or paying your employees and vendors,” chamber president Louie Gill wrote in the email. “We trust that our effort will aid you as you confront many significant decisions now, and during the next 30-day quarantine period and beyond.” Anyone looking for more information can contact Gill via email at president@heightschamber.org.
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