ANALYSIS

Steve Lackmeyer provides his weekly OKC Central column

Oklahoma businesses may be reopening, but Stephen Tyler, co-owner of the Tower Theatre, knows he may be waiting a year or longer before there is any hope for a real recovery for the Uptown landmark and its adjoining bar and smaller performance venue Ponyboy.

For the past two months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic Tyler and his partners Chad Whitehead and Jabee Williams scrambled to pay the bills with a series of sponsored online concerts, merchandise sales and help from the Paycheck Protection Program created by Congress.

But long-term survival has been pinned to the program, which was given a $50 billion boost in funding by the government with applicants being told they could apply for loans as high as $2 million.

Tyler filed on March 15 when applications opened online. Applicants were told the cap was $2 million and using the formula based on revenues provided by the SBA he learned his business was eligible for a $1.5 million loan.

The $1.5 million loan was seen as a way to survive the wait.

For a venue that relies on large crowds to be profitable, Tyler is resigned to enduring a year or more wait before a vaccination is created for the virus that will only then make people comfortable enough once again to enjoy concerts, movies and special events without taking out half of the seating.

“We applied on Day One,” Tyler said Monday. “There was no communication from them whatsoever, no confirmation email. We got a code, nothing else. And then we got an email saying our loan was being processed.”

As of April 24, the Small Business Administration reported paying out 38,984 loans totaling $7.96 billion, including 261 loans in Oklahoma totaling almost $60 million. The SBA website says nothing about changes in the cap on these loans, but for those who haven't applied, they are out of luck unless they are in agriculture and employ fewer than 500.

Jill Castilla, CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond, reported other customers are dealing with similar confusion about loan limits and application status.

“We have a lot of customers waiting with no response on the status of their disaster loan applications,” Castilla said. “Then we have a lack of communication on dollar amounts and we're seeing widespread that the limit of $2 million is being dropped to $150,000 for everybody.”

Whether that cap exists remained a question on Monday. The Washington Post, citing sources, reported the loan cap was dropped to $150,000 and added the SBA would not comment on the existence of a cap.

Darla Booker, regional communications director at the SBA, told The Oklahoman she was not aware of the cap being lowered to $150,000. That response leaves the question unresolved, though the communication issues are not unique to the SBA which like other agencies has faced a historic flood of requests for help. The SBA employs 4,000 people, including 2,000 in the division that handles the disaster loans.

“Based on overwhelming demand and available funding, the agency established a level of funding to ensure it can reach as many small businesses as possible including agriculture,” Booker said. “We hate to hear about small businesses that have a need for this money and they're not able to get what they need. Those stories break our hearts. We are about helping small businesses in need.”