Federal program kept HHNR open through the year
Last week, the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum received word it had qualified for a second round of support as the non-profit organization continues to face significant financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around the middle of March last year, many schools, businesses, and non-profit organizations were forced to close as positive cases of the virus continued to escalate. Shortly thereafter, the federal government approved the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to provide emergency assistance and health care response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the pandemic. Part of the act included the Payroll Protection Program which targeted businesses and non-profits which experienced significant reductions in revenue.
“The idea behind it was, don’t fire people; don’t permanently lay people off,” said the museum’s executive director Thomas Bregman.
Bregman applied for the low-interest loan through Empire State Bank. A formula, based on the museum’s payroll costs, determined how much of a loan the organization would receive.
The museum qualified and received a $155,000 loan. In October, Bregman applied and was approved to have the loan forgiven two months later. The loan, through the Small Business Association, essentially became a federal grant.
“It helped us keep people employed,” Bregman said. “It helped us manage through a very difficult year when we had significant reductions in our revenue. We had to cancel, postpone, or downsize our programs. Fund raising was also difficult with people having financial difficulties due to the pandemic. That loan helped quite a bit.”
In January, the museum applied for and received a second loan in the same amount. At the end of the year, Bregman said he will once again apply to have the loan forgiven.
The museum employs 24 staff members — half of them are full time and the other half are either part time or seasonal — and was successful in not having to permanently lay off anyone through a combination of the PPP loans, support from community memberships, fund raising events, and internal cost-cutting measures like short-term furloughs.
The museum’s annual operating budget is about $1 million for both the Outdoor Discovery Center and the Wildlife Education Center. While programs had to initially be canceled, postponed, or downsized, the museum has since been able to resume classes and programs albeit with smaller groups.
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When Hudson Highlands Nature Museum Executive Director Thomas Bregman began reading news coverage of the Payroll Protection Program, he noticed most articles pertained to small and medium-sized businesses and none reported local non-profits benefiting from the loan.
In speaking to some of his colleagues in Orange County, Bregman learned their non-profit organizations also received the loan. Wanting to thank Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney and to draw more attention to the 501c3 organizations which provide essential services like food, healthcare, education, and social and mental health services, Bregman called the congressman’s office to schedule a press conference. After three attempts, the press conference was finally held on Monday.
There are millions of small businesses in America which were hit directly by the pandemic and many would not have survived if the federal government had not responded in a bi-partisan way with the CARES act and the Payroll Protection Program, said Maloney.
In his congressional district alone there are 11,000 small businesses which employ 100,000 people affected by the pandemic.
“This museum has received help in both rounds of the Payroll Protection Program and is a good example of how the program is working,” Maloney said. “It’s not perfect and we know there is more work to do.”
Maloney announced the House of Representatives planned to pass this week a massive COVID relief package to address needs locally and across the country. The American Rescue Plan Act contains billions in emergency aid for small businesses and expands the program to provide targeted assistance for restaurants and other hard-hit establishments. Orange County is expected to receive $75 million.
Funding is still available through the second round of the Payroll Protection Program. The deadline to submit an application is March 31. For more information, visit sba.gov/coronavirus.
