Stormwater Management Urged In Wake Of Hurricane Helene
Turf Editors
PPP The Second Time Around
Small businesses struggling from the impact of COVID-19 are getting another round of financial help from the just passed Emergency Coronavirus Relief Act of 2020, a bill that contained $284 billion for the renewed Paycheck Protection Program. (PPP). The new loans will be tax deductible and available to any lawn care and landscape contractor or business with fewer than 300 workers. Sole proprietors, independent contractors and the self-employed are also eligible, and can apply even if they previously applied and were granted a PPP loan from the first round. The PPP loans are designed to provide a direct incentive for contractors and other small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. In addition to providing relief for first-time borrowers, a second PPP loan for businesses facing significant revenue declines is available to any business operating before February of 2020, that suffered at least a 30% decline in revenues in any quarter of 2020 when compared to 2019. Although the funds were allocated to the Small Business Administration (SBA), a lawn care and landscape contractor can apply through any existing, qualified SBA lender, federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union or Farm Credit System institution. Overview Of PPP Loans The current bill funds three categories of PPP loans, including: First-time PPP loans for businesses that qualified under the CARES Act but did not get a loan Second-draw PPP loans for businesses that obtained a PPP loan but are now in need of additional funding, and Additional funding for businesses ...
Workers’ Compensation Costs Rising?
By Christopher Dik Owners of landscaping companies often face challenges finding new employees and keeping existing ones. But what happens when an employee gets hurt at work? Keeping workers’ compensation costs in check can be yet another worrisome issue and insurance premiums can increase for a number of reasons. Knowing those reasons and implementing a game plan can help take control of the situation. Reported Losses First, look at how you are handling loss issues. Losses are a very common reason why premiums increase, but not all losses are created equal. In order to determine if losses are causing your premium to increase, examine the frequency versus the severity of your reported losses. Do you have frequent losses on a minor scale? If so, how can they be mitigated? Do you have one or two major losses? Could they have been avoided? Both types of losses can impact your premium. Order a loss history report. This report determines frequency versus severity, identifies open claims and losses and inflated loss reserves, and determines if any losses can be subrogated against someone else. If there are large reserves, be sure that someone on your team is following up on the claim at least once a month. A reserve has the same impact as a loss until it is reduced (see Case Study #2 below). Losses are going to happen. But developing an internal program to better handle future losses leads to better results. For instance, consider an occupational clinic, which provides medical ...
