Bridge Loan Helps Sarasota-based Business Rebuild

Palm Coast Linen Service of Sarasota County

Palm Coast Linen Service serves clients from Naples to Lakeland, laundering linens. Clients are typically beach resorts, fine dining restaurants, spas, assisted living facilities and medical facilities. These were exactly the type of businesses that experienced the most hardship once Hurricane Irma made landfall in September 2017.

As its clients were rebuilding their own businesses, Palm Coast Linen Service experienced a significant decrease in revenues. That’s when Poppy Rossano, president of the company, reached out to the Florida SBDC at University of South Florida, to find assistance.

Rossano was interested in applying for the State of Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan. When asked about her experience with the storm and the assistance received, she recalled:

What type of damage occurred?
The damage we incurred was major. We lost a water heater, three computers and linens that needed to be reprocessed because of water damage. The cost to reprocess was over $10,000. We had three weeks where our payroll was more than our sales. Sales were cut more than 75 percent because restaurants and resorts were rebuilding their locations and because they were without power. We did not receive payments for sales prior to Irma because locations were closed and customers needed the money they had to rebuild or restock items they lost due to Irma.

How will the Bridge Loan help?
Without the Bridge loan, we would not be able to continue making payroll and pay the gas, electric and rent.

How was the Florida SBDC at USF helpful during this process?
SBDC is and will be a very helpful resource. I was impressed with the business knowledge that our representative, Pat Gordon, had. With just a short time to review my records Pat had a clear handle on Palm Coast’s future. Her insight can help us grow in the right direction. We will use SBDC in the future with our growth plans.