Updated May 12, 4:20 p.m.
Five weeks since the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) launched in early April, ice cream parlor owner Kenny Blum was still waiting for his loan.
The program, created by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), was designed to help businesses weather the coronavirus pandemic, which has dragged the economy into a recession and caused massive job losses.
Blum opened the Little Truckee Ice Creamery in the summer of 2017 after running a sea kayaking company out of Alaska for more than a decade.
“They say ice cream is recession proof," he said. "I don't know if that's totally true, because I haven’t been through one yet with ice cream."
Like a lot of other business owners in Truckee, he relies on tourism. In the high season last year, he said he had 20 employees. They help him with shop operations and staff the Creamery’s mobile trailer, which people can book for events.

Blum said this year, all his summer events, which kick off in May, have been canceled because of shelter-in-place orders.
The walk-up window at Blum's shop is still open, but since shelter-in-place began, most of the shop’s earnings have come from local ice cream deliveries.

Round One: Funding Runs Out
One of the driving factors behind the PPP’s popularity with small business owners is that if they meet certain qualifications, they are eligible for forgiveness of their loans.
When he heard about the program, Blum said he reached out to his bank, Wells Fargo, within a day of its launch. Wells Fargo is one of more than 5,000 lenders approved by the SBA, which is helping to oversee the program.
Blum said the bank’s website told him that he had to submit a request for his application before he could officially apply — Wells Fargo and other banks called these “expression of interest” forms.