Restaurant owners urge a second round PPP funding: 'It will go a long way'

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Small business owners on getting America back to work

‘Fox and Friends Weekend’ small business panel weighs in.

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Among a panel of business owners on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” a restaurant business owner said that restaurants are in a position to open back up.

“[New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu] gave us the OK to reopen for indoor dining as of June 15 at 50 percent capacity and we desperately need it,” owner of Great NH Restaurants Inc. Tom Boucher told “Fox & Friends Weekend” alongside two other restaurant owners.

Boucher said that he “hopes his business can recover” and there needs to be a second round of Paycheck Protection Program funding. Boucher noted that there is over a $100 billion leftover of PPP that has not been used and it should be allocated to first-round recipients.

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“We took the PPP first round very early, knowing it was going to run out and it did. We’re out of that money as of today and it still is not open for indoor dining,” Boucher said.

Another business owner on the panel, Greg Gatto, the franchise owner of BurgerFi, also said that the second round of PPP funding will “go a long way” in helping restaurants recover.

“We’re at 50 percent capacity, however, I can only open my restaurant at 25 percent right now because we still have to maintain the six-foot social distancing and we want to do our part for the community,” Gatto said.

Gatto went on to say, “I can’t put 50 percent of the people inside my dining room right now and maintain that.”

Gatto said fast-food restaurants are probably going to rebound faster than fine dining.

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Owner of Snowshack Kelli Snow said that the PPP was very important because the restaurant could not have opened without it nor kept their employees.

“We did cut our staff less than half, which is tough,” Snow said.

Snow went on to say, “Communities are having a hard time spending money because they have been trying to survive. So, to get them back out to spend money is going to take time also.”

Snow recommended that a “tax relief” would help businesses rebound.

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“All the businesses, especially small businesses trying to get their feet under them again, to give them a three- to six-month tax relief, and not having to pay taxes, would help a lot,” Snow concluded.

Meanwhile, President Trump said Friday the White House will announce tax incentives for restaurants and parts of the entertainment industry hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and the related economic lockdown "soon."