Saturday, October 24, 2020
JULY 14, 2020 — Shortly after COVID-19 struck Texas, the Institute for Economic Development at UTSA launched the Small Business Development Center COVID Business Recovery Accelerator to help small businesses weather the financial hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
COBRA is the only recovery accelerator of its kind in Texas designed to help stabilize and rebuild the small business economy. Funded by a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration, COBRA serves small businesses in Bexar County and 10 surrounding counties by providing counseling and resources to pursue loans from the financial industry and to begin recovering from the economic impact of the pandemic.
Heather Schnelzer, owner of Aerial Athletics, is one of the many businesses that has benefited from the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program through the SBDC COBRA. Schnelzer operates three gymnasiums around San Antonio and had over 800 enrolled students before the pandemic hit. In April she had to lay off 19 of her employees.
“I have reached out to so many different sources trying to look for information on how to qualify for the SBA loans, but it wasn’t until I reached out to the UTSA Small Business Development Center that I had the answers I needed,” she said.
Schnelzer applied for the PPP loan assistance and received $134,000 to use to hire 13 of her employees back and aid her in covering the gymnasiums mortgage for the past three months.
“Our employees are not only our staff, they are our family,” said Schnelzer. “Receiving the funds from the SBA PPP made a huge impact in our operation. We were able to keep our gyms open and provide an alternative mode of virtual teaching.”
Schnelzer has since reopened using the PPP funds and her savings but has had to adjust how her gymnastics business operates, now offering virtual classes and some small in-person team classes.
The cost of her operation after the pandemic also has increased her overhead. Each facility and all equipment are commercially cleaned every day. The gyms are sanitized by CDC guidelines and a hospital-grade fogging disinfecting service, and each facility will be updated with handless hand sanitizers and soap dispensers. She says she will eventually need the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan, a longer term loan, to keep her gyms operating.
The IED accelerator also will help Schnelzer navigate the disaster loan process. It will assess the applications of businesses that have been denied emergency funding and help them reapply.
“We feel this program is making a difference for business owners by providing the experts to help them work through the relief as well as the recovery process” said Terri Williams, director of the SBDC Center for Government Contracting at UTSA.
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UTSA Main Campus will serve as a designated polling station during the early voting period, today through October 30, and on Election Day, November 3.
H-E-B Student Union Ballroom (HSU 1.104)Alumni who majored in criminology & criminal justice, demography, kinesiology, nutrition & dietetics, psychology, public administration, public health, social work and sociology—you have a new UTSA college to call home. You’re invited to get to know the new college better during HCaP Happy Hour. Each happy hour starts with a brief discussion to introduce you to the work in the featured department before opening to questions, comments and your ideas.
Virtual EventWant to add Adobe programs to your course but you aren’t sure how? Stop by Adobe Office Hours for a casual conversation on how you can implement Adobe in your classroom.
VIrtual EventGamified courses increase students’ motivation and participation and allow for the capability to reinforce knowledge and skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, persistence, and creativity. In a game-based learning environment, learners are involved in a more challenging, meaningful, empowering, and deep understanding process. Get engaged with us in a playful session about game design in Blackboard Learn.
Virtual EventJoin this informative, interactive webinar with practical tips on how to plan your charitable giving now and for the future. Michael Perkins, member of the UTSA Alumni Association and the UTSA College of Business Accounting Advisory Board, is no stranger to gift planning. As managing partner and CEO of Slattery Perkins Ramirez P.C. (“SPR”) his primary areas of focus include counseling business owners, executives, and other high net worth individuals on personal financial issues, including estate planning, wealth transfer, and income tax planning techniques. Michael also practices philanthropy himself – establishing an endowed scholarship at UTSA as well as supporting numerous charitable causes throughout San Antonio.
Virtual EventUTSA Main Campus is a voting poll for Election Day on November 3.
H-E-B Student Union Ballroom (HSU 1.104The University of Texas at San Antonio Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Showcase features undergraduate student research and creative endeavors from across the university.
VIrtual EventThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
