NH Business Review

Tom Boucher, an owner and CEO of Great NH Restaurants, will never forget the exact time – 9:44 a.m. — when he heard about Governor Sununu’s March 16 order closing all restaurants, resulting in him having to lay off 600 hourly employees.

Janette Desmond, owner of Kilwins, a candy shop in Portsmouth, was frustrated by the PPP process as she geared up for Easter. (Rick Beauchesne/Seacoast Online)

Yes, the company switched to takeout, but he still has seen a 90% drop-off in revenue at his T-Bones, CJ’s Western Grill and The Copper Door restaurants.

Then, on Friday, April 3, the first day he could do so, he filed for eight separate forgivable loans through the Payroll Protection Program. By the end of the weekend, they were approved. On Tuesday, he was able to start hiring hundreds of his full-time workers back, as the chain added more labor-intensive curbside pickup, as well as others services, so he will hopefully be able to make it through this crisis.

“This was a lifesaver,” he said. “This is going to save my business.”

The mad rush is on, as businesses spent the last week filing for some of the $349 billion worth of federally guaranteed loans, loans that – for the most part – they won’t have to pay back. Those funds, however, are finite and going fast.

By Tuesday, President Trump announced that $70 billion – one fifth – was gone.

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