MINNEAPOLIS — When your business relies on the weather, you plan for good years and bad years, but it's hard to plan for the REALLY bad years.
Loppet Foundation Executive Director Claire Wilson says this year was one of those years.
“We did not plan for a snow drought in addition to a year where we could not make snow,” Wilson said.
Despite hosting the World Cup this year, Wilson is reporting a $1 million drop in revenue this winter.
“We suffered as an organization this winter,” Wilson said. “We had 53% fewer participants in our ski lesson and in our school programs.”
The Loppet Foundation is just one of countless nonprofits and small businesses that were impacted by the mild winter this year. Many of those businesses now qualify for a new loan program offered by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
“This is very similar to where we have a drought with farming, we have flooding, we have a tornado, it’s the weather’s economic impact,” Governor Tim Walz said.
Walz and other leaders held a press event at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis Monday to raise awareness of these new SBA loans.
The loans are available due to ongoing federal drought declarations in 81 Minnesota counties. Seasonal business owners who live in these 81 counties may qualify for a low-interest loan through this program.
“The interest rate for small businesses is 4% with these loans, and for nonprofits, the rate is 2.375%,” SBA district director Brian McDonald said.
Under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), business owners can borrow up to $2 million.
McDonald says the deadline for filing depends on where the business owners live. He says there are 13 different deadlines in Minnesota that range from the end of March to June.
“I would recommend applying as soon as possible,” he said.
Besides The Loppet Foundation, Scott Hartmann of Scott’s Lawn Care says he is also considering a loan through the SBA.
“We had a 40% loss in revenue, and this has sadly forced us to layoff much of our staff.”
Hartmann says he started the winter with 37 employees, but due to the lack of snow, he had to layoff 16 employees this year.
Explore Minnesota is hearing similar stories from business owners in the travel and tourism industry.
Executive Director Lauren Bennett McGinty says they are currently wrapping up a statewide survey of business owners to understand the full impact of the mild winter this year.
McGinty says the results from the survey will likely be released later this week, but she is hearing initial reports from business owners who are experiencing a 15% to 75% drop in revenue this winter.
“This year ironically was the year we put 24% of our marketing dollars into winter marketing and unfortunately we didn’t really have a winter to market,” McGinty said.
For more information on the SBA loan program, eligibility requirements and application deadlines, visit the Small Business Administration website.
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