JUNE 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 17
Securing finds through the Paycheck Protection Program has been easier said than done, local business owners say. (Getty Images)
STRUGGLING FOR STIMULUS
WHAT’S INSIDE continued on page 18
20 CORNER OFFICE 22SHAKERS 23 24 NONPROFIT
25
EVENTS
CHARITY
SPOTLIGHT
WHOLLY MOLI: MADE
ON LONG ISLAND
MOVERS &
PRESS BUSINESS
SMALL BUSINESSES FACE UPHILL BATTLE IN GETTING FORGIVABLE LOANS
BY CLAUDE SOLNIK
Veronica Bencivenga, owner of Duck Donuts in Hauppauge, owns exactly the type of
business the Paycheck Protection Program seems intended for, as a small, family-owned
company that struggled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
She reached out to Bank of America, her company’s banker, to facilitate a PPP $98,000
forgivable federal loan — up to 2.5 times monthly payroll — and got nowhere.
“I found an interesting trend,” she says. “Business owners I spoke to who were looking for
larger loans, $1 million or more, were getting approved and funded rapidly. Owners looking
for $125,000 or $75,000 didn’t make any progress.”
Bencivenga got funds through Bethpage Federal Credit Union, which had handled her
personal mortgage, in four days.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
