Independent Banker - April 2021 - 60

as it ends, it's going to make a lot of
things bounce back rapidly. "
He even believes it's possible that
businesses like restaurants will be
overrun with demand for tables and
will have to improvise and innovate
to keep up. But it will also be hard
to predict where and when people
will feel comfortable going out again,
making alternative data like geodata
Dr. Kelly McKinney: PPP was a
'lifeboat' for my business
After a year of operating at a dramatically reduced capacity,
Dr. Kelly McKinney's dental practice is finally recovering.
In January and February, patient visits to the Newport,
Ark.-based dentistry were on par with visits in the first two
months of 2020, before the pandemic hit.
It comes as a huge relief to McKinney, who bought
the practice in 2016 with a bank loan. The Arkansas
health department has eased requirements, allowing the
dentistry to use all of its patient rooms, which is a huge
improvement from when McKinney was only allowed to
perform emergency work. Patients who put off routine
visits are returning as the rate of COVID-19 decreases and
vaccination rates increase.
" We got hit pretty hard in November and December
[2020], " McKinney says. " We'd call to confirm a patient and
they'd be in quarantine. A few members on staff got it, and
then we had to quarantine the office, because we didn't
want to endanger
patients. "
A Paycheck
Protection Program
(PPP) loan from
Newport-based
Merchants and
Planters Bank enabled
McKinney to keep all of
her eight employees,
as well as the lights of
her business on, even as she had to spend thousands of
dollars on personal protective equipment.
" The PPP loan was a lifeboat for my small business, " says
McKinney, who is working with the community bank on loan
forgiveness and a second round of the PPP. " I never would
have thought, when facing a global pandemic, that my local
bank would be so important, but they are the ones that
helped me stay open. "
from cell phone carriers and credit
card transactions more valuable for
lenders when making credit risk
decisions. " The overriding macro
solution is an end to the virus, " says
Merski, who believes pent-up demand
will feed the recovery and boost
demand for small business loans.
Demand at Merchants and Planters
Bank is currently flat, but Gowen
believes that once most of the PPP
funds have been depleted and
COVID-19 numbers decline, small
business lending will pick back up. " I
think adjustments to business models
amid the pandemic sparked ideas for
improvements or expansions, and
businesses will need funds to execute
these visions, " he adds.
Merski also thinks there will be a
steady increase in traditional small
business loans. " A lot of the loans
were PPP loans or extending credit
to support businesses through tough
times, " he says. " In the second half of
the year, I think we'll see a growing
number of new loans and small
business startups. "
Beyond the pandemic, Merski says
there are other potential challenges
small businesses may end up facing,
including two of the biggest line items
at any small business: labor and
taxes. Deficit spending to battle the
pandemic could result in increases in
business, corporation or capital gains
taxes. That would increase the cost of
doing business and harm the viability
of small businesses, he says.
There's been discussion of raising
the national minimum wage. While at
least 28 states have higher minimum
wages than federal law requires, a
nationwide increase would increase
payroll expenses for many businesses.
Regardless of the circumstances,
community banks will be there for
them. " Community banking has
really found itself with a mission, "
Newgard says. " We really stepped
up and continue to step up for small
businesses, and it doesn't stop there. "
Kelly Pike is a writer in Virginia.
60 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q April 2021
Independent Banker - April 2021

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