These local bike businesses received federal coronavirus relief loans

Bike shops have had to adapt to COVID-19.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Local bike businesses were among the hundreds of thousands of U.S. companies that asked the federal government for assistance to weather the coronavirus storm.

Data released from the Small Business Administration last week revealed that at least four Portland bike shops and two other bike-related businesses received loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Here’s the list (company name, loan amount, number of jobs retained (if available)):

Fat Tire Farm
$150,000-350,000
14 jobs

Bike Gallery
$350,000-1 million

River City Bicycles
54 jobs
$350,000-1 million

King Cycle Group
$350,000-1 million
70 jobs

Showers Pass
$150,000-350,000

VeloTech Inc.
350,000-1 million
39

River City Bicycles owner Dave Guettler said he used the money to increase employee wages and save for the future. “Business has been crazy,” Guettler shared with us via email. “Especially considering the showrooms are still closed. We are selling as many bikes as we can get, but selection is pretty limited. We are fine-tuning our parking lot delivery processes, and trying to figure out how and when we can re-open the stores.”

According to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, these local companies were part of an estimated $40 million that was pumped into the bike industry. In total the Trump Administration worked through banks to issue about $660 billion in low-interest loans to companies and nonprofits. The loans are forgivable if companies meet certain conditions regarding hiring and employee salary levels.

See if your other favorite bike companies received loans by searching the database via Propublica.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Business, Front Page
coronavirus 2020