{"id":10523,"date":"2020-07-13T07:30:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T13:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/?p=10523"},"modified":"2020-07-08T12:43:35","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T18:43:35","slug":"ppp-loan-helps-manufacturer-meet-demand-during-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/uncategorized\/ppp-loan-helps-manufacturer-meet-demand-during-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"DreamSpring Helps Salsa Manufacturer Meet Increased Demand During Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When the first wave of coronavirus hit the United States in\nearly 2020, Arian Gonzales and her husband, Richard, didn\u2019t know how the\npandemic would affect their 20-year-old Albuquerque company and the employees\nwho produce its award-winning salsas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fearful that Cervantes Food Products Inc. would be forced to\nhalt production for two months and that they would lose their five employees,\nthe couple contacted DreamSpring\u2014a multi-state community development financial\ninstitution (CDFI) based in New Mexico\u2014to apply for a Payroll Protection\nProgram (PPP) loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emergency loan allowed the Gonzaleses to keep paying their employees while the company spent available cash stocking up on jars, lids and other packaging that was expected to become scarce. And it\u2019s a good thing they did, because the company was deemed \u201cessential manufacturing\u201d under Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham\u2019s emergency order, and demand for its products quickly skyrocketed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Online orders, 90 percent of which originate outside New\nMexico, tripled, and regional grocers, food clubs and other retailers doubled\ntheir standing orders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arian attributes the increased demand to sequestered people\npreparing more home-cooked meals. \u201cPeople aren\u2019t interested in buying four jars\nat a time now,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re buying 12 jars at a time\u2014and multiple\nflavors. People are reaching out to find those flavors they grew up with or have\nfond family memories of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramping up production required Arian to draw on longtime\nrelationships with local, family-owned farms to ensure growers could supply a\ngreater volume of raw materials when she needed them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing DreamSpring’s focus on client relationships also mattered when it came to having confidence that a PPP loan was within reach. DreamSpring has helped the Gonzaleses obtain three other loans over the years, and Arian has served on several of the nonprofit\u2019s client committees. Even though the couple could borrow money from more traditional institutions given the company\u2019s successful track record, Arian feels the bond she has with DreamSpring is one of reciprocal loyalty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in business over 20 years now, we\u2019re definitely\nbankable and we have other banking relationships,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the feel of\nfamily that makes me want to work with DreamSpring even more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This support was essential during the chaotic PPP rollout,\nwhen loan provisions were vague and it wasn\u2019t clear whether the U.S. Small\nBusiness Administration would require repayment even when the funds were used\nfor the intended purpose of helping small businesses sustain payroll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arian Gonzales<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDreamSpring offered training and I signed up for all of it,\u201d Arian said. \u201cThat\u2019s the value of having knowledgeable partners. This PPP money is earmarked strictly for employees, and that\u2019s where it went.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since launching its Relief and\nRecovery Fund in early April, DreamSpring has funded PPP loans for\nmore than 1,700 businesses. These SBA-backed loans exceed $54 million and\nare helping hard-working entrepreneurs preserve some 8,700 jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re so supportive of what we do,\u201d Arian said of\nDreamSpring. \u201cThey have been in my corner.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For that reason, she recommends DreamSpring to other business owners who need money quickly. \u201cAs entrepreneurs, we don\u2019t have the ability to wait four to six weeks for a loan approval. We need the money in a week to 10 days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PPP has been reauthorized until Aug. 3, and DreamSpring is again accepting loan applications. Other small-business loan options are available year-round, including lines of credit, all buoyed by support. Find more information about DreamSpring<\/a>. And click here to order from Cervantes Food Products<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finance New Mexico article 667.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DreamSpring helped Cervantes Food Products meet increased demand through pandemic with a PPP loan. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,1],"tags":[441,439,438,440],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10528,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10523\/revisions\/10528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}