ROYAL PALM BEACH, Fla. — Kimberly Leland's printing business in Royal Palm Beach is once again struggling to stay in operation.
"We absolutely could use more help," she said.
The Paycheck Protection Program money she received from the government allowed her to keep paying her employees for nine weeks.
The PPP loans that rolled out in the spring allowed businesses to keep workers on the payroll and pay expenses. The federal government will forgive the loans as long the money wasn’t isn't for anything else.
Talks of a new PPP loan are currently tangled up in the debate over a new stimulus package in Washington.
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"I'm hoping the government will find a way to help small businesses survive because it's the backbone of this country," Leland said.
Leland and other business owners who took advantage of the PPP loans cannot reapply to the program. Instead, they are now waiting on Congress to come up with a new plan.
Bill Herrle, the executive director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses for Florida, said small businesses throughout the state continue to face hardship.
"We've done the restart, and it hasn't been all we had expected," said Herrle.
Herrle's group is pushing for a second wave of loans to keep small businesses afloat into 2021. A recent survey from the Small Business Majority found one in four small businesses will fail in the next three months without any funding.
"Close to half 46 percent of businesses that have obtained PPP would apply for a second round if it were available," Herrle said.
Leland worries about the future of her business, which relies on the success of other companies.
"We've had so many customers go out of business and just close their doors," Leland said.
She isn't sure how long she will be able to continue with an ongoing drop in business and no help from the government.
