VIDEO: Portman Visits Ohio Small Business Kept Afloat By Paycheck Protection Program

In a new video, Senator Portman highlights his recent visit to Shaffer Metal Fab Inc. where he met with employees and the company’s leadership to discuss how a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan helped keep the business afloat and workers on the payroll during the early months of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company received a $430,000 PPP loan that helped them retain 45 employees, and even added a few employees since receiving the loan. The PPP was made possible thanks to the bipartisan CARES Act, which Senator Portman supported and was signed into law by President Trump. 

A transcript of the video can be found below and the video can be found here. 

“I'm here at another great Ohio small business, Shaffer Metal Fabricating, Inc., and they are a classic example of a company that really needed the PPP program - the Paycheck Protection Program - in order to stay in business and to keep their employees. So back in the April-May timeframe they started losing their customers. People just weren't buying their fabricated metal products. So they had to make some tough decisions to lay people off and were looking at the possibility of shutting their doors, and then the PPP program came along and fit them like a glove. They were able to get a loan of over $400,000 in order to keep the doors open and keep their employees on board. They used 87 percent of that loan for payroll and also used some for utilities and some for mortgage, which you can use and also get the loan forgiveness. So it worked really well. Now they're back on their feet and their customers are starting to buy their product again. And it's just a great news story as to how this short-term program targeted, focused on small business, focused on temporary leave, worked to help an Ohio business to keep their doors open and keep people employed.” 

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