As the pandemic hit, orders cratered at KB and Katie Brown’s print shop in Minneapolis. They knew they would need help — exactly what the Paycheck Protection Program was meant to provide.
But despite trying three lenders, they never got one of the forgivable COVID-19 loans handed out from April through early August. They had to furlough their four employees and still don’t fully understand what went wrong in a process that felt Byzantine and inequitable to them.
“I just don’t think the program was slated towards really small businesses,” said KB Brown, who is watching with dread as firms in his majority Black and lower-income community struggle and close. “It’s bullshit.”
Read more at The Center for Public Integrity.