NEW ORLEANS — Tulane Green Wave gear and merchandise fill the racks and shelves at the Campus Connection in Uptown New Orleans, but nobody is buying these days.
The store is one of scores of businesses across the city now shuttered by Louisiana’s Coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
“There’s nothing I can do about it,” Campus Connection owner David Cariello said. “My business is dying on the vine and my hands are tied.”
Cariello turned to the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for relief.
It offers small businesses a forgivable loan to pay expenses for the next two months if they keep their employees on the payroll.
Cariello applied for the loan nearly two weeks ago.
He says his bank, Capital One, left him hanging.
“They just continued to point you in the direction of their website,” Cariello said. “It was just very frustrating because it felt like all I could do was just sit there and wait while other people were getting their money.”
Thursday, the $349 billion program ran out of money in 13 days.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana said the president has requested an additional $250 billion in funding for the program.
“Both Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate, (are) working with the White House to try to get an agreement,” Scalise said. “In Louisiana, there are thousands of businesses that need that relief. We want those businesses to come back.”
According to the website covidloantracker.com, most of the PPP loan money lent, has come from small or regional banks.
Jefferson Financial Credit Union President Mark Rosa said it may have taken the bigger banks a little longer to set up their systems to process the loans.
He predicts that could change if and when there is a second round of funding.
“They certainly have the infrastructure to do it,” Rosa said. “They have the people to do it. They have the where with all to do it.”
Rosa expects Congress to approve additional funding for the SBA loan program.
“The $349 million went to quickly and there is far more demand out there that needs to be satisfied, legitimately,” Rosa said.
As for Campus Connection, Cariello has already started the loan process with a smaller bank.
“I would like to get this money so I can start paying my employees again,” Cariello said.
Capital One released a statement saying the bank is now accepting digital applications in phases from customers who have previously expressed an interest in the program.
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