Like so many other small businesses right now, suppliers and distributors have been scrambling to get a piece of the $2 trillion CARES Act passed last month to prop up the economy during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Promotional products business owners have had varying levels of success getting applications in for the loan and grant programs outlined in the stimulus, but as of Friday, April 10, none that spoke to Counselor had yet received funding to help with payroll, rent and other expenses.

Most applied for the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provides small-business loans of up to two-and-a-half times average payroll, capping at $10 million. The loans, given out by banks and other lenders but overseen by the Small Business Administration (SBA), are set up to be 100% forgivable if used to keep employees on payroll or pay certain other allowable expenses.

“We were out front and pretty aggressive” about applying for the PPP loan, says Stan Dohan, president of Blanchester, OH-based supplier The Allen Company (asi/34330). “Maybe we were too early.” Dohan says he had to fill out the application form multiple times before it was finally accepted by his bank.

Dohan doesn’t blame the program itself, but thinks individual lenders may be confused or gun-shy about handling so many loans. “I don’t think the program is confusing at all, it’s straightforward and well-written,” he says. “The delays, I guess, probably are predictable, but still frustrating.”

As of April 9, more than $124 billion in PPP loans had been approved for 480,000 small businesses, according to Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been keeping a watchful eye on the program since its inception. Congress has been discussing adding another $250 billion to replenish the PPP program, though politicians have not yet been able to reach an agreement to do so.

#PPP UPDATE 1/7:
As of 2:30pm yesterday we had:
=Over 480000 #PPPloans made
=Over $124 billion approved
=Covers an estimated 12 million jobs

Despite early challenges over 35% of funds have been committed in first 5 days.

Why we need more 💴 for PPP ASAP

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 10, 2020

Amy Fang, owner of Bluelight Promotions (asi/141828) in Bedford, NY, said her small community bank didn’t seem to know anything about the PPP loans when she called on Tuesday, April 7, to see about applying. Within 24 hours, though, they got back to her to say they weren’t taking any more applications and would put Fang on a waiting list in case more slots opened in the future. “I’m a little disappointed in them,” she says. “I felt like they were uneducated about the loan itself.”

The frustrating part, says Brenda Speirs, CEO of Bend, OR-based Buzztag (asi/186668), has been the absence of guidance about the program, as well as the lack of communication from the bank, regarding the loan’s status. “How do you make sure you’re the squeaky wheel?” she asks. “It doesn’t matter. You just have to wait. … The hardest thing is the not knowing.”

Anna-Claire Eakin, CEO of Imagine Promotional Group (asi/605998) in Petaluma, CA, first applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) about four weeks ago. Those SBA loans of up to $2 million were opened up to help businesses impacted by the coronavirus in one of the relief packages passed before the massive CARES Act. At the time, she says, the application process was lengthy and required a lot of documentation, but she felt satisfied to have gotten her paperwork in early. Then, on March 30, she was told she needed to reapply “because now the application was streamlined.” Under the CARES Act, the government is now giving out advances on the EIDL loans of up to $10,000 (all of which is forgivable), which also led to the need to reapply.

Joe Eberz, a multiline rep out of Akron, OH who represents The Allen Company and other suppliers, also applied for the $10,000 EIDL grant and is waiting to hear back. “It’s going to help, but let’s face it, it’s not going to last,” he says of the money. Eberz says he is also applying for unemployment to help get through this difficult time.

Despite the confusion and delays, promo pros say they’re grateful that small-business relief is being made available. “Thanks goodness for a program like this,” says Sarah Whitaker, owner of Williams Advertising (asi/360402) in Hopkinsville, KY. “It gives us another month.”

No one is relying solely on the promise of the forgivable loans, however. Many small-business owners have been breaking into selling masks and other personal protective equipment, working on lead generation for when business bounces back, and making and updating their business disaster plans.

The PPP and EIDL loans will be a boon when they come through, but they’re not the end-game to opening up the economy, Eakin says. “If sales don’t come back,” she says, “nothing is going to save the day.”