Peoria Charter Coach has rehired 40 employees that were previously laid off after securing a federal coronavirus stimulus loan.
Owner and President Bill Winkler said the company lost $2.5 million in revenue over the last month as sports travel, school field trips, and vacations were canceled.
Winkler said the money Peoria Charter received through the federal Paycheck Protection Program only allowed them to bring back a portion of their staff. He said the company is still without any revenue -- during what’s usually their busiest season — as long as Gov. J.B. Pritzker's executive order remains in place.
"The shelter in place, the social distancing, the gathering limitations — we're out of business,” he said. “We're out of business until those are lifted."
For now, Winkler said, he’ll focus on providing delivery services to small businesses, as well as transportation for hospitals, if they’re interested.
But he said he's "imploring" the governor to return downstate Illinois to business as usual. He said he does not believe the Peoria area faces the same threat as the “hotspot” in Chicagoland — and he believes others feel the same.
“I want my life back,” he said. “I feel like a caged animal. I want all my employees to go back to work. I want everyone to go back to school. Let downstate Illinois — let us go back to the restaurants, let us go back to stores, let us go back to our churches.”
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood joined Winkler to make the announcement at a press conference Wednesday.
The Peoria Republican said he agreed that central Illinois is not facing the same challenges in containing COVID-19 as Chicago and they have more at stake economically. But he stopped short of saying it was time to lift the governor’s executive order.
"I've said this: coronavirus kills, but poverty kills, also,” he said. “When people aren't getting checks and people aren't making money and people aren't engaged in our economic system, that's going to hurt."
LaHood said the decision on when to "reopen the economy" should be made on a region-by-region basis by health officials. But he said business owners and others impacted should also get a say.
The Paycheck Protection Program allows loans for eight weeks of payroll to be forgiven. Additional money loaned is due back at a low interest rate with six months of deferred payment.
LaHood said he's optimistic the shelter in place order will be lifted before that eight weeks of payroll runs out. But he said if a fourth federal stimulus installment is needed, more money should be allocated to the program.
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