A Wind River Partner Lends a Hand to a Struggling Business Owner
While we eagerly wait to see what kind of season the MLB will have this year, I’d like to share the story of one of our bank partners that truly stepped up to the plate to help a small business owner.
Trouble getting Payroll Protection Program (PPP) Funds
Wind River has been steadily contacting our customers over the past couple of months to check on them and see if there is anything we can do to help their business get through the pandemic crisis. I was speaking with one customer, a driving school based in Illinois, who was having trouble applying for a PPP loan. It seems this small business owner was running into two problems with his large regional bank:
- Identify anyone at the bank who could process his PPP loan application
- Receive any kind of response back from his bank
The problems of being a smaller fish in a larger pond are not new. We wrote about it late last year in terms of payment processing. More recently, we reported how some big banks were steering the first round of PPP funds to their larger customers first, while smaller business owners were left out. This driving school was truly suffering, and I wanted to do something about it.
Wind River’s Bank Partners to the Rescue
Wind River has a superb network of bank partners so I started to place some phone calls. One of our partner contacts took the problem directly to his bank president, and they quickly got the paperwork ball rolling for the driving school. No runaround trying to find someone to help. No lack of responsiveness. Just plain old fashioned neighbor helping neighbor.
Our Bank Partners Continue to Step Up
Similar stories are being repeated — our bank partners stepping up to help small business owners – often putting in 14-hour days to do it. We’re proud to be associated with them and wanted to send our thanks.
Wind River Stands Ready to Help You
You know, any vendor can offer to help when times are good. But look around when times are tough. Who’s standing next to you? That’s what separates vendors from partners.
If you’ve been getting the runaround from your bank or if your payment processor has been a vendor rather than a partner, give Wind River a call. We’ll do whatever we can to help your business make it through this difficult time and support your efforts to rebuild in the months to come.
