Independent Banker - April 2021 - 56

afloat. They have poured their
personal funds into their businesses
and worked with community banks
to retain staff they consider family
and save a business that's also their
passion. They've found new ways to
deliver products and services. Now,
many of them are depleted-with
good reason.
In the Federal Reserve's Small
Business Credit Survey, published
in February, 80% of small business
respondents (up to 499 employees)
reported having financial challenges
since the pandemic began-compared
with 66% in 2019. About three in four
(78%) of these small businesses saw
revenue decrease between October
2019 and October 2020. Nearly half
(46%) let staff go.
There were also significant
operational challenges brought on
by reductions in demand (58%),
government mandates (55%)
and adapting to health and safety
guidelines (52%), according to the
Fed's survey, which polled small
businesses last October. About a
quarter (26%) of small businesses had
to close temporarily, 56% reduced
their operations and 48% modified
them. Yet, they found a way forward.
REINVENTION BY NECESSITY
If necessity is indeed the mother
of invention, then the COVID-19
pandemic has been a master class
in creativity and innovation for
America's small businesses.
" Small businesses have been
improvising at a scale that bystanders
and lenders could not have expected, "
says David O'Connell, senior analyst
at Aite Group, a financial services
consultancy in Boston.
Just as community banks rapidly
embraced digitalization and remote
technologies and implemented the
PPP at an unheard-of pace, small
businesses had little choice but to
find new ways to deliver goods and
services. O'Connell believes this
adaptability and resiliency is the
reason why the economy isn't in
56 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q April 2021
The Red Tie Meat Shop:
Ready to expand
A gourmet butcher shop in northeast Arkansas
may not seem like the type of business to
thrive during a pandemic. But the Red Tie
Meat Shop, a customer of Newport, Ark.-based
Merchants and Planters Bank, had a great
2020 and is on track for another strong year in
2021, says owner Jorge Salinas.
The shop, which also carries vegetables,
bread, prepared dishes and other groceries,
saw a huge uptick in business in April, May and
June as customers-worried about potential
food shortages-stocked up on food. While
the average buyer comes in for a few steaks,
Salinas said some customers were buying 40
or 50 pounds of meat after the first round of
stimulus funds came through.
" It was just wild, " says Salinas, who worked
with a variety of wholesalers to limit supply
issues and price spikes. " I was blessed to stay
healthy and do what I needed to do to make
my business work. "
Salinas was well positioned to adapt to
contactless ordering, since his shop already
had a drive-thru window in an area where
delivery wasn't a practical option. The window
had been installed with the shop's many
retired customers in mind. Plus, many of
the shop's customers were in good financial
positions when the pandemic hit and
continued spending.
So far, Salinas says, 2021 is a much calmer
year, but the Red Tie Meat Shop continues to
grow and expand, and he is considering adding
another location.
" People are wearing masks better than ever.
They feel confident to be out and shopping, " he
says. " I feel very positive about my company. "
Independent Banker - April 2021

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