HOOKSETT, N.H. – On Thursday, Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH) took a trip to Forbes Petroleum Transport to get feedback another potential round of support from Congress toward businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Forbes Petroleum Transport, a company that transports gasoline to 7-11 stores across the northeast, was one of the over 15,000 businesses in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District to receive support from the Paycheck Protection Program, better known as PPP.
A portion of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, over $500 billion in PPP loans have been awarded by the U.S. Small Business Administration as of June 30.
Today, Forbes Petroleum Transport Owner William Forbes says his company’s revenues up to approximately 75 percent of where they normally would be this time of year. But without help from PPP and an EIDL loan, Forbes says his business likely would have had to shut its doors in April.
“We were down to our last paycheck for our drivers when the PPP program kicked in,” said Forbes.
Forbes and his staff praised Pappas’ team for their assistance with the process and urged other small businesses in New Hampshire to ask for help if they need it to survive the pandemic.
“I was hesitant because I’ve never reached out for help before, but I was overwhelmed by the response I got,” he said. “I’ve never been big on getting government help, but this time government help saved our family business.”
Pappas was pleased that he was able to help Forbes and his company, which has been located in Hooksett since 2003.
While New Hampshire’s COVID-19 cases are beginning to dwindle compared to the rest of the country, Pappas said that vigilance is still necessary both in terms of public health as well as economic health.
“What we are seeing is that the financial pain is continuing. Many of our businesses are operating at a fraction of their normal volume, so we need to target our support for those who have been most impacted by the pandemic,” he said.
Pappas also said any future pandemic assistance for local businesses will likely utilize community lenders and local banks that have pre-existing relationships with local and smaller businesses.
“I think we’ve learned some lessons, there were some big companies with a lot of lawyers who were first in line last time and that’d not what it was designed for,” “So it’s really refreshing to hear a story about a small business like this that was able to get the help and we need to make sure more businesses like this can get the assistance they need moving forward.”
