11. Great Resources and Unanswered Questions

Today we're sharing links to great resources we've found for roasters on the "small business"

Ken Pargulski at Espresso Royale in Whitmore Lake, MI

management front.

• CPA firm's Q&A on the PPP loan. See especially the section towards the bottom on forgiveness. CLICK HERE  . For a spreadsheet to help you calculate your forgiveable amount, CLICK HERE -- created by CPA firm Capricore.
• For questions about the weekly $600 additional unemployment benefit, and your costs as an employer, see this website's overview of the DoL guidelines.
• Comment: the $600/week benefit remains an especially relevant issue for cafe-owners. Several times the advice has been given that you as the employer have the right to essentially threaten to remove that benefit from them, if you prefer to have them come back on payroll. You would do that by offering your employees a job, encouraging them to come back to work, and if they refuse, you need to be sure they refuse in writing. Then you file that with your state and the employees are no longer eligible for the UI benefit. The unanswered question, of course, which worries cafe owners is, "what is the "right" thing to do, not just what is my "right" as an employer?"  Add your comment below on how you will answer this question!

Small Biz Assoc of Michigan's (SBAM) COVID19 resources page is curated and updated daily. It's a valuable resource because they add the recordings of all the webinars and daily updates videos they are doing. If your state doesn't have a small biz association that's well organized, check this out! A lot of what they are recommending and sharing is relevant for small businesses across the country.

• https://www.sbam.org/Resources/COVID-19-Resources 
• Be sure to note the webinars, including   
• Tax implications of the EIDL, PPP, and CARES Act and with Rehmann
• What You Need to Know About Spending & Tracking Your PPP Loan  with a CPA firm  (this webinar includes a spreadsheet template to help calculate your forgiveness amount.)
• HR & Legal Strategies (Presented by Bodman Law Firm April 2, 2020

8. LAAR webinars continue this week!

Sign up today for tomorrow's Loan Application Assistance for Roasters (LAAR) webinar!

Just click here for our contact page and send a message saying you'd like the call-in details!

LAAR Webinar - Tuesday, Apr. 7, 11 am EST. Use the CONTACT page to request call-in details.

Can't make it on Tuesday, join us...
LAAR Webinar - Thursday, Apr. 9, 11 am EST. Use the CONTACT page to request call-in details

The two webinars we held last week were uplifting, interactive sessions with the handful of roasters on the call. Everyone finishes the hour feeling more confident about the right next step for their business.

"I could have spent half an hour digging into some rabbit hole on a government website to get to just one tip out of the dozen good pieces of advice Artisan shared during this webinar." ~ Andrew Timko, Blueprint Coffee, St. Louis, MO

Can't make any webinars? Click here for easy resources from the SBA of Michigan (which is doing an excellent job of updating small businesses across the country).

4. PPP Application Link NOW AVAILABLE

YESTERDAY the US TREASURY OPENED THE LINK TO THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM APPLICATION

 ***the following text is copied from an email from Michigan's SBA team, "SBAM".**

The application for borrowers can now be found here.

The Payroll Protection Program goes live April 3, 2020.

The Paycheck Protection Program is designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on payroll by providing each small business a loan up to $10 million for payroll and certain other expenses.

If all employees are kept on payroll for eight weeks, SBA will forgive the portion of the loans used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. Up to 100 percent of the loan is forgivable. Small businesses and eligible nonprofit organizations, Veterans organizations, and Tribal businesses described in the Small Business Act, as well as individuals who are self-employed or are independent contractors, are eligible if they also meet program size standards. For a top-line overview of the program, click here.

Please note that is processed through your local SBA lender. We recommend checking with your current financial institution first.

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WHERE CAN ROASTERS GET HELP TO UNDERSTAND THEIR BEST FINANCIAL OPTIONS?

Join a Loan Application Assistance for Roasters webinar! The next one is tomorrow, Apr. 2, 11am EST. Contact us via our contact page or use the comment field below to register! We'll review at a high level the key options offered by various government programs across the country and answer your questions. 

Next week's webinar is Apr. 7, 11am EST. 

Register today!