FACC and Local Native Business Owners Featured in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Native American business owners in Wisconsin were on the rise. Will the pandemic set them back?"

This is the question asked by Sarah Volpenhein in her article published Tuesday by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Recent studies are showing minority owned businesses are being hit especially hard by the economic impacts of COVID-19 and are making a slower recovery than white owned companies. Bill Beson, our FACC Senior Loan Officer, and Gary Mejchar, our FACC Assistant Director, were interviewed regarding the ways financial institutions have helped Native owned small businesses respond using federal programs through the CARES Act and state relief like Wisconsin's Small Business 20/20 program.

"We haven't had any (borrowers) that have said, 'You know what, I'm done. This was the nail in the coffin,'" he said. "But we're also realists. We know there's a long way to go here. The economic recovery is going to be much longer than most anticipated." - Bill Beson

Business owners Brian Holmes (B&D Contractors) and Robert Pero (Perodigm, Ripley Green) were also interviewed to share the direct experiences the pandemic has had on their businesses ranging from construction to digital media to retail.

To read the full article, visit: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/08/11/covid-pandemic-set-back-native-american-businesses-wisconsin/5438438002/