Rowing Illustrated

https://www.heraldnet.com/business/to-s ... -football/

I wonder how other boatbuilders have been fairing, especially those who rely on collegiate business as a bulk of what they do. It seems as though the pandemic might end up flipping who the dominant builders are, if anything because smaller companies who specialize in smaller boats could very well be overflowing with good business, while the ones who have neglected their small boat lineups might be floundering a bit.

What's the poop on other builders? Seems pretty quiet out there, and in this reality, silence often isn't a good sign.

I think things are ok for most. Another 6 months of this and things may change quickly .

More people sculling is not a bad thing .

I have to believe US builders are really hurting right now. Think about it. No one is buying eights and probably not many fours. Do you keep your skilled staff on and risk becoming insolvent if you can't last long enough through this pandemic? Or do you lay off your skilled labor and risk not having a skilled workforce when you do start getting orders again?

Personally, I hope those guys are looking at other sources of revenue. What carbon fiber specialty products are hot right now? Aerospace is just as dead. Personal body armor maybe?

crewu wrote:I have to believe US builders are really hurting right now. Think about it. No one is buying eights and probably not many fours. Do you keep your skilled staff on and risk becoming insolvent if you can't last long enough through this pandemic? Or do you lay off your skilled labor and risk not having a skilled workforce when you do start getting orders again?

Personally, I hope those guys are looking at other sources of revenue. What carbon fiber specialty products are hot right now? Aerospace is just as dead. Personal body armor maybe?

If you get a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, you will need to keep your employee count the same for full forgiveness.
This doesn't cover everything, but payroll, rent, utilities do make up a large portion of business costs.

The loan will be fully forgiven if the funds are used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high subscription, at least 60% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll).

https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/lo ... on-program

Yeah those PPP funds ran out for everyone about 3 months ago...

Dana Vesloppi wrote:Yeah those PPP funds ran out for everyone about 3 months ago...

As of July 31, there was still $130 billion remaining to lend

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucebrumb ... 1b5f927470

Except you only get it one time.

crewu wrote:Except you only get it one time.

Yeah, so you need to calculate your necessary loan amount correctly.

For forgiveness you also need to spend 60% of it on payroll & keep the same # of employees.

i know this turned off a few venerated small business owners.
I can only postulate that they wanted more cash for themselves after layoffs, though they would never say that, only wink & nudge.

i know far more that actually care for their employees and business & have utilized the loans as a way to keep people employed, the business viable & ready to open when the time comes.

Calculation is done for you. It’s based on last years payroll. You were expected to keep employees paid their typical wages. You had to spend it in two months once you were funded. Therefore, the money ran out mid-June if you’d rcvd it in first round. SBA relaxed the 8 week schedule to 24 in early June, but for most it was already spent.

Dana Vesloppi wrote:Calculation is done for you. It’s based on last years payroll. You were expected to keep employees paid their typical wages. You had to spend it in two months once you were funded. Therefore, the money ran out mid-June if you’d rcvd it in first round. SBA relaxed the 8 week schedule to 24 in early June, but for most it was already spent.

Well, the equation is given to the business, you or your accountant needs to gather the correct payroll information (if you have employees off-payroll, this could cause issues)

The PPP Flexibility Act (June 5) increased the original 8 week spend period to 24 weeks was passed by Congress & signed into law by the President.
If you got an EIDL loan early, you are also eligible to refi it with a PPP loan.

And at the end of July there was still $130 billion left to lend.

24 weeks from the original bill's March 27th signing is next Friday, Sept 11.
If your loan was approved on the last day of the program, June 30, you were eligible for forgivable loans to cover payroll & expenses until December 15.


I am, by no means, saying this was perfect & represented full coverage of costs, etc for small businesses, but if you calculated your needs correctly (40% of the loan could be used for non-payroll overhead) that is a huge bailout offered by our tax dollars. And if you have the same number of employees on Dec 31 that you had on Feb 15, the loan will be forgiven. exemption exist too - like if your business hasn't returned to a pre-Feb 15 level due to state or federal COVID-19 restrictions.

Partial forgiveness is an option, can decrease wages by up to 25% as long as employee count maintains the same level, non-forgiven portions become a 1% interest loan with 5 year terms.

If you rcvd ppp funding in the first round, that money was spent in 2 months. Spent responsibly, while maintaining all employees. When the term was extended, it didn’t matter to anyone who was initially funded. Those dollars were already allocated.

Dana Vesloppi wrote:If you rcvd ppp funding in the first round, that money was spent in 2 months. Spent responsibly, while maintaining all employees. When the term was extended, it didn’t matter to anyone who was initially funded. Those dollars were already allocated.

True.

The first round also ran out of money 13 days after applications were opened.
And federal gov't guidance was sparse & late in coming.
And large banks seemingly only serviced business with existing or prior LOC or loans with the bank.

Many, many issues in the overseeing & rolling out of the program - , but still, by the end, there was billions of dollars outstanding available.

It is yet another example of where we let our grandiose delusions get in the way of helping each other.

crewu wrote:I have to believe US builders are really hurting right now. Think about it. No one is buying eights and probably not many fours. Do you keep your skilled staff on and risk becoming insolvent if you can't last long enough through this pandemic? Or do you lay off your skilled labor and risk not having a skilled workforce when you do start getting orders again?

Personally, I hope those guys are looking at other sources of revenue. What carbon fiber specialty products are hot right now? Aerospace is just as dead. Personal body armor maybe?

I don't think the kevlar that is used in boat shells is directly tranferrable to the kevlar used in armor plates. Sure, they're both fabrics, but that's like saying my 1000 thread egyptian cotton sheets could easily be converted to bluejeans.

caustic wrote:

crewu wrote:I have to believe US builders are really hurting right now. Think about it. No one is buying eights and probably not many fours. Do you keep your skilled staff on and risk becoming insolvent if you can't last long enough through this pandemic? Or do you lay off your skilled labor and risk not having a skilled workforce when you do start getting orders again?

Personally, I hope those guys are looking at other sources of revenue. What carbon fiber specialty products are hot right now? Aerospace is just as dead. Personal body armor maybe?

I don't think the kevlar that is used in boat shells is directly tranferrable to the kevlar used in armor plates. Sure, they're both fabrics, but that's like saying my 1000 thread egyptian cotton sheets could easily be converted to bluejeans.

Caustic, I'm coming to your place for a comfortable nap.