OGGI Italian Restaurants Survive the Storm
Euro Pie Holdings of Hillsborough County
Joseph DiBartolo, owner of Euro Pie Holdings, LLC, operates a franchise of OGGI Italian restaurants throughout the Tampa Bay area. The chefs at OGGI focus on embracing Italian traditions daily, with freshly marinated, roasted chicken. This farm-to-table restaurant chain also focuses on locally grown products as well.
After Hurricane Irma hit in September 2017, DiBartolo reached out to the Florida SBDC at University of South Florida for assistance in applying for a State of Florida Emergency Bridge Loan.
When asked about his experience with the storm and the assistance received, DeBartolo recalled:
What type of damage occurred?
We lost a lot of revenues. We had to close early. We lost a whole weekend which is very crucial in a restaurant business. We lost power for five days. We lost our produce.
How will the Bridge Loan help?
That’s going to make a big impact for us to get us back to where we were. It’s gonna help us get back on track from the revenues that we lost so we can be more stable and get through these next couple of months.
How was the Florida SBDC at USF helpful during this process?
Very helpful. It was painless. From A to Z it was very painless. I was very pleasantly surprised. Within 10 days everything was solved. I want to thank the SBDC for doing this for us.
