April 21, 2020

NJGCA April 21st
Coronavirus Shutdown Update

Federal Loans Update
Current speculation is that an additional $350 billion in total (for both the PPP loans and the EIDL loans) will be approved by Congress on Thursday. Be prepared to take advantage of this next appropriation. Do your best to try to get this money as we know it will run out quickly again. Experts seem to agree that even though this is a substantial sum of money, they are still short by hundreds of billions compared with the demand. Some experts are saying that the money could be gone within the first 72 hours. Reach out to your bank and see if you can get your loan application filled out and put in line so it can be approved in the first burst after funding becomes available. We want to be clear, this is what we know as of today and we are putting you on alert just to make sure you are ready to go.

As we’ve stated previously, if the bank or lending institution you’ve customarily done business with is unable to help you during this crisis, NJGCA invites you to reach out to valued MBPs for assistance. As of this writing, Scott Seidman is taking applications on behalf of Heartland Capital (a sister company to Heartland Payment Systems). If you wish to speak to Scott, please feel free to call him at 908-334-4778 or email him at scott.seidman@e-hps.com. If you are emailing Scott, please be sure to copy Nick De Palma nick@njgca.org so we potentially follow-up on any submissions.

Self-Serve Update
Last night, Sal was on NJ 101.5 discussing lifting the temporary ban on self-serve in order to combat the Coronavirus and reduce risks to customers and employees. Saad Abbasi and Kashmir Gill were able to get on the line as well. Saad and Sal can be heard in THIS SEGMENT and Kashmir can be heard HERE. While Steve Trevelise was talking about the issue, the network was conducting a poll. By the end of the two hour segment, the final poll numbers were literally split right down the middle with half of those who responded to the poll approving temporarily lifting the ban. You can read the article Steve wrote afterwards HERE.

Face Masks and Cleaning Services Available
Finally, two more opportunities have come to our attention for you to obtain face masks and have your businesses cleaned. US Paratrooper Building Services reached out to us that they were pivoting over their regular construction equipment company to produce PPE during the pandemic. If you are in need of PPE, please email Michelle at michelle@njgca.org. You can view their products and prices on their website HERE. We were also put in contact with a cleaning company providing a special service. Nationwide Cleaners is a New Jersey based company that is offering a cleaning/sanitizing service to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. They will do any portion of your location in a thorough and efficient manner. If any members are interested please contact greg@njgca.org and he will follow up for you.