Restaurant owner says he isn't seeing any federal relief, and no one else is either

Restaurant owner says he isn't seeing any federal relief, and no one else is either

AS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ASHUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLETRY TO FILE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT,WE’RE LEARNING THE PROBLEM ISJUST AS BAD FOR SMALL BUSINESSOWNERS.

THANKS FOR STAYING WITHUS.

I’M JANE MONREAL.AND I’M PATRICK NOLAN.CONGRESS APPROVED HUNDREDS OFBILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO HELPCOMPANIES PAY THEIR RENT ANDKEEP EMPLOYEES ON PAYROLL, BUTCOMPANIES IN OUR AREA HAVEN’TSEEN THE MONEY YET.

4 IN YOURCORNER’S ROB MANCH IS IN NAPLESFOR US TONIGHT, SPEAKING WITHONE BUSINESS OWNER WHO ISLOOKING FOR ANSWERS.( (:28 - :33))(1:00 - 1:05)Off The Rock Tavern opened just4 months ago here in Naples, andnow, it’s already closed down,with 28 employees out of a job.Owner Frank Lacava is trying toget financial aid, but it’s alot harder than it sounds.PKG:"Nobody that I have talked tohas received a dime.Lacava met with me inside hisempty restaurant.He invested more than a milliondollars in this place, only tohave it close a few months afteropening.Frank Lacava, Off the RockTavern Owner"It was a real shocker.

We have28 employees that rely on theirincome.

Our business wasthriving.

We were packed everynight."Now, all those customers aregone, and the patio outside isempty.Lacava said as soon as they wereshut down by the Governor’sorder, he started looking forhelp."We applied for it immediately,and we could not, we got put ina queue."That was on March 18th.So far, Lacava is still waitingin that queue, along with everyother business owner he knows.Dr. Tom Smythe, FGCU FinanceProfessor:"I’m just not sure we couldhave avoided some kind ofbackup.

Doesn’t make anybodyfeel better, but just the scopeof what we’re talking about isbeyond, beyond imagination."Dr. Tom Smythe is a financeprofessor at FGCU.He says businesses like Lacava’sare seeing a lag because theinfrastructure is just not thereto dole out 600 billion dollars.Dr. Tom Smythe, FGCU FinanceProfessor:"Just that one item is roughly20% of an annual budget.

That’senormous, I mean we don’t spendthat much on defense."The federal government is tryingto find ways to fix the problem.Banks are currently distributingthe loans, and Senator MarcoRubio just posted to socialmedia that online services likePayPal and Square might soon bedoing so as well.Meanwhile, Lacava says he hasthousands of dollars worth ofbeer to dump out.He says, he could really usesome good news."There’s millions and millionsof people out there applying forthese funds, but they don’t haveany access.Dr. Smythe told me, so far,small businesses around thecountry have already applied formore than 150 billion dollars inloans.Smythe says, in his opinion,using private banks todistribute the money is the mostefficient method, it’s