International Ordnance Technologies, located at 101 Harrison St., Jamestown, is one of 28 businesses the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency has provided a low-interest loan to in response to economic injury resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Keeping the doors open has been a challenge for many businesses since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some closing for good and many struggling to carry on.

That is why the federal government awarded the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency with a $10.5 million grant through the CARES Act, which enabled the agency to establish a new Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). The intent of the RLF is to provide capital, in the form of low-interest loans, to both businesses and nonprofit organizations as a means to respond to economic injury resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this week, the IDA approved funding 28 businesses and nonprofit entities $5,736,293 in loans, which will retain hundreds of jobs and create upwards of a 100 new jobs.

One of the businesses that received a loan was International Ordnance Technologies, located at 101 Harrison St., Jamestown. Tammy Snyder, International Ordnance Technologies owner, said if it wasn’t for the COVID-19 funding assistance like the IDA loan and the federal Paycheck Protection Program, the business that manufactures machine gun links might have shutdown production.

“We’re using it to keep our doors open” Snyder said about the IDA loan. “We’re using it to fund payroll, for operation expenses and to purchase inventory so we can keep our doors open.”

Snyder is grateful the federal government and local government agencies like the IDA recognize how important it is to assist small businesses so they can continue production and pay their employees.

“I don’t know if we would have made it through this time,” she said. “I don’t think people understand how difficult income loss is on a business and, not only that, for the people who work at those businesses. (The employees) depend on their income to pay their bills.”

The IDA didn’t just provide loans to local businesses, they also helped supply companies with personal protection equipment and sanitizer when the pandemic began impacting Chautauqua County businesses.

“(The IDA) even brought around supplies when the mandates were put in place like needing to have sanitizer. They helped supply us with everything we needed,” she said. “We are grateful for there assistance. If I ever had any questions, the IDA was very responsive. If they didn’t have the answer, they directed me to the person I needed to talk to. It wasn’t about one person, it was about a community pulling together to support one another and make the best of a bad situation.”

ADJUSTING TO THE PANDEMIC

Adjusting to the “new normal” that was created by the pandemic has been a “moving target,” Snyder said. In the early days of the pandemic in March, Snyder said every day mandates were being handed-down for the manufacturer to follow.

“Regulations were changing. Demands on employees were changing. We were scrambling around to keep employees safe and to come up with procedures and practices to keep employees safe,” she said. “To get sanitation supplies was difficult. The hardest part of the pandemic was that moving target the first couple of months.”

Another adjustment was paying close attention to the health of their employees, Snyder said. In the past, an employee might have worked while having cold symptoms. Now, because of the pandemic, the employees are sent home or they don’t come to work.

“That effects people personally, losing that pay. We did offer our employees five paid sick days because of COVID,” she said. “The problem is they don’t always know if it’s COVID or not. They’re missing time whether they have COVID or not, and they have to pay to get tested. The turn around on the test, at first, took seven to 10 days. It’s quicker now, but not at first.”

Snyder said the company has made the necessary adjustments during the past eight months during the pandemic and employees have become use to the new normal.

“Initially everyone just wanted to run home and lock themselves in. Once people realized they could implement changes at the work site to keep people safe, and abide by the practices and respected each other’s environment, we learned we could function just like we used to, with just a little bit of change,” she said. “The employees were scared to come to work at times, but they braved through it. If it wasn’t for the employees willingness to come to work, we would’ve been shutdown. They’re the heroes. They’re almost like trailblazers. They showed up every day.”