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Gov. Walz promotes new loans to help business impacted by winter
Business owners may qualify for up to $2 million in low-interest loans through the Small Business Administration.
MINNEAPOLIS — When your business relies on the weather, you plan for good years and bad years, but it’s hard to plan for the REALLY bad years.
Loppet Foundation Executive Director Claire Wilson says this year was one of those years.
“We did not plan for a snow drought in addition to a year where we could not make snow,” Wilson said.
Despite hosting the World Cup this year, Wilson is reporting a $1 million drop in revenue this winter.
“We suffered as an organization this winter,” Wilson said. “We had 53% fewer participants in our ski lesson and in our school programs.”
The Loppet Foundation is just one of countless nonprofits and small businesses that were impacted by the mild winter this year. Many of those businesses now qualify for a new loan program offered by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
“This is very similar to where we have a drought with farming, we have flooding, we have a tornado, it’s the weather’s economic impact,” Governor Tim Walz said.
Walz and other leaders held a press event at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis Monday to raise awareness of these new SBA loans.
The loans are available due to ongoing federal drought declarations in 81 Minnesota counties. Seasonal business owners who live in these 81 counties may qualify for a low-interest loan through this program.
“The interest rate for small businesses is 4% with these loans, and for nonprofits, the rate is 2.375%,” SBA district director Brian McDonald said.
Under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), business owners can borrow up to $2 million.
McDonald says the deadline for filing depends on where the business owners live. He says there are 13 different deadlines in Minnesota that range from the end of March to June.
“I would recommend applying as soon as possible,” he said.
Besides The Loppet Foundation, Scott Hartmann of Scott’s Lawn Care says he is also considering a loan through the SBA.
“We had a 40% loss in revenue, and this has sadly forced us to layoff much of our staff.”
Hartmann says he started the winter with 37 employees, but due to the lack of snow, he had to layoff 16 employees this year.
Explore Minnesota is hearing similar stories from business owners in the travel and tourism industry.
Executive Director Lauren Bennett McGinty says they are currently wrapping up a statewide survey of business owners to understand the full impact of the mild winter this year.
McGinty says the results from the survey will likely be released later this week, but she is hearing initial reports from business owners who are experiencing a 15% to 75% drop in revenue this winter.
“This year ironically was the year we put 24% of our marketing dollars into winter marketing and unfortunately we didn’t really have a winter to market,” McGinty said.
For more information on the SBA loan program, eligibility requirements and application deadlines, visit the Small Business Administration website.
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Watch KARE 11 Sunrise or KARE Saturday from Oct. 28-Nov. 2 for a chance to win tickets!
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The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Maturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his department “failed” after a man was shot, allegedly by his neighbor in the city.
“We failed this victim. 100%, because that should not have happened to him,” said O’Hara in a Sunday evening press conference.
The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Moturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
Sawchak was charged with shooting Moturi as he was pruning a tree on his front yard on Oct. 23.
Moturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion.
O’Hara and the MPD came under a heavy attack from the Minneapolis City Council after it was revealed that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office had charged Sawchak, but the MPD had not arrested him.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
“We failed to act urgently enough,” said O’Hara, before citing staffing concerns as a contributing factor.
It was a stark difference from the tone the chief initially took on Friday, then saying “If we wound up in a deadly situation, the headlines would read ‘MPD shot mentally ill person’.”
On Sunday, O’Hara said his previous comments were meant as a response to accusations that the MPD “didn’t care,” about the case.
“This is the result of over-politicizing policing in Minneapolis,” said O’Hara.
O’Hara stated that the MPD will, for the moment, continue waiting for Sawchak to exit his home to arrest him, but the chief added “We are running out of options before we have to escalate the matter.”
The heated back-and-forth between the city council and the chief continued earlier Sunday when Minneapolis City Council member Emily Koski released a statement questioning O’Hara and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey actions in the matter.
“Our Chief of Police is hiding behind excuses, and our Mayor…is just hiding.” said Koski in the statement.
