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Loans help business owners get by, but soon they'll need customers

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Posted at 7:36 AM, Apr 30, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-30 08:36:56-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The owner of Buffalo State Pizza Company said he can sleep a little easier at night now.

Monday, Philippe LeChevin received a loan from the federal government's Payroll Protection Program. The loan will allow him to hire back some of the employees he laid off when business dropped during the stay-at-home orders.

Business is still slow, so those employees will end up working on cleaning or painting projects until orders pick back up.

"I think it'll be a while, from my point of view, before we come back to being 'normal.' I don't even know what the word means anymore," LeChevin admitted.

In the meantime, LeChevin won't open the dining room at either of his Buffalo State Pizza Company locations until closer to June.

He's in the unique situation of owning a store in both Kansas City, Missouri, and Overland Park, Kansas, which seem to have different rules on reopening businesses.

He said he'll take the strictest rules between the two jurisdictions and apply it to both restaurants.

"There is so much unknown out there, so much contradictions from different levels. Until we have a concrete answer, I'd rather keep my staff and my customers safe by doing this," LeChevin said.

He is still waiting a response from the Small Business Administration on his application for a disaster relief loan through that federal agency.