NEWS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2020
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Demand in Eastern Oregon was high for
Paycheck Protection Program loans
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
A fi nancial life preserver
thrown to small businesses
is out of money.
The Small Business
Administration announced
April 16 that the Paycheck
Protection Program was no
longer able to accept appli-
cations “based on available
appropriations
funding.”
The only way the program
will reopen is if Congress
comes back into session and
allots more money.
The program, which
came online April 3 as part
of the larger stimulus pack-
age known as the CARES
Act, offered loans to busi-
nesses affected by COVID-
19 with fewer than 500
employees, covering their
payroll, rent and utilities
for eight weeks. The loans
are forgivable if they meet
certain criteria, including
not cutting employees or
wages during the two-month
period.
Kelly McPhee, vice pres-
ident of communications for
Banner Bank, said demand
for the loans in Oregon
has been high. The Pacifi c
Northwest bank had 11,482
inquiries of interest in the
fi rst week. On April 13,
she said that Banner Bank
is usually one of the Small
Business Administration’s
top performers, process-
ing about 250 applications
a year.
“In four days, we did
443,” she said.
The program was off to
a “shotgun start” on April
3, McPhee said, with banks
scrambling to launch the
massive undertaking after
getting guidelines just hours
before the money was sup-
posed to be available.
“This was something that
had never been done before,”
she said. “There was no pro-
cess, no loan application, not
promissory notes.”
Lenders had to work
carefully through the pro-
cess with businesses, mak-
ing sure they had every-
thing right so as not to put
the loan forgiveness aspect
in jeopardy.
“It’s taking banks a little
bit longer, because we defi -
nitely don’t want to mis-
step,” she said.
“THE RESPONSE WAS OVERWHELMING, WITH
6,500 APPLICATIONS IN THE FIRST 24 HOURS.
THANKS TO OUR AMAZING TEAM OF BANKERS
AND ASSOCIATES, WE WERE ABLE TO APPROVE
NEARLY 7,000 SBA LOANS REPRESENTING
ABOUT $1.4 BILLION IN FUNDING FOR SMALL
BUSINESSES.”
Kurt Heath, communications manager for Umpqua Bank
Before the SBA ran out
of money, some banks had
already reached their capac-
ity to make loans, based on
general rules for banks that
only allow them to make
loans up to a certain percent-
age of their balance sheet.
By April 13, Columbia Bank
had a notice on their website
stating that, “After receiv-
ing a signifi cant number of
applications and serving a
majority of client requests,
we have reached our capac-
ity to provide support
through the SBA’s Paycheck
Protection Program.”
“While we are no longer
accepting applications for
the program, we will con-
tinue to help clients nav-
igate other SBA options,
additional credit options as
well as payment deferral
options,” the bank stated.
McPhee said Banner
Bank had not reached capac-
ity yet, but was also offer-
ing relief to businesses in
the form of fee waivers,
payment plans and other
options, in addition to help-
ing them look into options
such as the SBA’s Economic
Injury Disaster Loan, which
has since run out of money
as well.
Bank of Eastern Oregon
was also among the lend-
ers processing PPP loans for
Eastern Oregon businesses.
CEO Jeff Bailey said the
bank was “inundated with
requests” from the fi rst day.
He said from a borrow-
er’s standpoint, the process
was fairly straightforward,
but on the back end, the
SBA “is building the plane
as they’re fl ying it.”
“They’re getting $349
billion out the door in a mat-
ter of weeks,” he said.
Early applicants through
Bank of Eastern Oregon are
already seeing money in the
bank, helping them meet
payroll and keep the lights
on after the fi nancial blow
most businesses have been
dealt by the pandemic. Bai-
ley said that’s great for Main
Street, but there is some
apprehension on the part of
lenders.
“It’s good for communi-
ties, but on the back side of
that, are we putting undue
risk on the banks?” he said.
He said BEO chose
to participate, however,
because of the obvious ben-
efi t to customers. Now the
real test will be whether the
loan forgiveness part of the
program works the way it’s
been advertised.
“The loans are forgiv-
able, but there are hoops to
jump through, and things
are changing daily, if not
hourly,” he said.
Kurt Heath, communica-
tions manager for Umpqua
Bank, said in an email that
they were the fi rst bank on
the West Coast to start pro-
cessing applications.
“The response was over-
whelming, with 6,500 appli-
cations in the fi rst 24 hours,”
he wrote. “Thanks to our
amazing team of bank-
ers and associates, we were
able to approve nearly 7,000
SBA loans representing
about $1.4 billion in funding
for small businesses.”
Those
included
the
Hermiston and Pendleton
branches.
Heath said despite all of
the current SBA funds hav-
ing been allotted, Umpqua
Bank is still working with
businesses on applications
so that they will be ready
if additional funding is
approved by Congress.
According to the Small
Business Administration, as
of April 13 — 10 days after
loans fi rst opened — more
W EEK
Blue Mountain Com-
munity College furloughed
nine employees last week.
The temporary release
of the employees came
several weeks after the
Oregon Department of
Corrections suspended all
visits to the prison and
also locked out personnel
working in prison educa-
tion programs. The DOC
said the change was neces-
sary to prevent the spread
of COVID-19 within
the state’s correctional
institutions.
BMCC holds the con-
tract to provide education
services to inmates at Pend-
leton’s Eastern Oregon
Correctional Institution,
Two Rivers Correctional
Institution in Umatilla, and
Powder River Correctional
Facility in Baker City.
The nine employees
worked at EOCI and TRCI.
Their furlough began April
13 and will last until at
least June 13.
State offi cials originally
notifi ed educational part-
ners on March 13 about the
suspension of education
contracts, but didn’t imme-
diately stop payments to
the college. That move
came about a month later.
“On April 12th, we again
notifi ed our education part-
ners that we needed to sus-
pend the education con-
tracts until the governor
lifted the state of emer-
gency,” said DOC spokes-
woman Jennifer Black, via
email. “The suspension,
rather than a contract ter-
mination, will allow us to
more easily restart the edu-
cation programs.”
In a letter to inmates,
state corrections director
Collette Peters said stop-
ping visits and education
was the fi rst in department
history.
“The decision did not
come lightly,” she wrote.
“We value visiting, we
value your connections
with your loved ones, and
we value all of the activi-
ties and programs avail-
able to you. Visiting, edu-
cation,
programming,
special events make incar-
ceration what it should be
— an opportunity to learn
and grow and prepare to
become neighbors once
again.”
BMCC, the largest pro-
vider contracted by the
state DOC system, is con-
tracted to instruct 961
inmates across the three
prisons, according to Casey
White-Zollman, BMCC’s
vice-president of college
relations and advancement.
White-Zollman
said
BMCC’s faculty associa-
tion is working to draw up
a memorandum of under-
standing regarding expec-
tations for the remaining
15 full-time faculty mem-
bers and four part-time fac-
ulty members who worked
in the prison education
program.
First-Class Team.
World-Class Treatment You Deserve.
MEET
TROUBLES
Small and Large Animal Care
541.567.1138
By KATHY ANEY
STAFF WRITER
For more details on all of these services,
please visit us online at tccancer.org
Mark Sargent, DVM • Brent Barton, DVM
Eugenio Mannucci, DVM, cVMA • Jana von Borstel, DVM, cVMA
Mon: 8-6
Tue - Fri: 8-5
Sat: 8-12
Emergency Service
BMCC furloughs
nine employees
Integrative Oncology Services:
Radiation Oncology • Patient Navigation
Education & Support Services
Naturopathic Clinic
Survivorship Clinic • Chaplain
Nutrition & Fitness Support
PET OF THE
Troubles is just the opposite of
her name. She is a very sweet
senior gal who is looking for
her forever home. She loves to
snuggle and would make a great
companion. She does great with
other dogs, good with cats.
than 4,600 lenders had made
1,035,086 loans totaling
$247.5 billion. The average
loan size was $239,152, but
70% of the loans were for
less than $150,000.
Construction topped the
list of industries, with 13.7%
of the loans, followed by
“professional, scientifi c and
technical services” at 12.3%,
manufacturing at 12.3%,
health care and social assis-
tance at 11.3%, hotels and
food services as 9.2% and
retail at 8.6%.
Oregon had 9,508 loans
approved for more than $2.4
billion.
Earlier this month, Uma-
tilla Electric Cooperative
opened an offi ce in Hermis-
ton to assist area businesses
with advice on applying
for the Paycheck Protec-
tion Program and Economic
Injury Disaster Loan. On
April 16, the offi ce sent out
a news release stating that
while both programs are
out of money, staff are still
available for general busi-
ness advising and other
potential fi nancing options.
“We are waiting to hear
whether additional stimu-
lus funds will be appropri-
ated and will alert the pub-
lic immediately should this
occur,” the release stated.
It also noted that some
businesses were having
money from the programs
show up in their account
unannounced, and encour-
aged people who have
already applied to check
their balance often.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
The Blue Mountain Community College Board of Education
has declared an emergency in late March. The board made
the move as COVID-19 halted on-campus instruction and
forced classes online.
80489 Hwy 395 N
Hermiston
www.oregontrailvet.com
Due to the
COVID-19
pandemic, animal
shelters need
our help more
than ever. Please
donate to your
local shelter, or
offer to foster an
animal in need.
If interested please go to fuzzballrescue.com and fill out an application.
If you are not able to adopt, but would like to foster or donate, visit fuzzballrescue.com
or you can mail in donations to Fuzz Ball Animal Rescue, PO Box 580, Hermiston, OR 97838
Now offering telehealth visits for
patients, when appropriate
Two convenient locations:
600 Northwest 11th Street, Suite E-23 - Good Shepherd Medical Center
Hermiston, OR - (509) 783-9894
7350 W. Deschutes Ave. - Kennewick, WA - (509) 783-9894