Photo by LANCE SHEARER

Special to the Eagle

Sandy Elliott, designer, seen in her office on Park Avenue on Marco, is president of Interiors, Interiors, Interiors. The company’s literature identifies them as coastal lifestyle design experts and Elliott said she was unpleasantly surprised by the lack of accessibility to small business loans through the federal stimulus U.S. SBA loans.

Banks may have had their bail outs, but small business loans are no handout, Island business owners say.

“If your small business is stressed meeting expenses during these economic times, the U.S. Small Business Administration has a new loan program designed just for you,” proclaimed the SBA’s Web site.

It may have sounded good, but there was a catch.

“SBA’s America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program can provide up to $35,000 in short-term relief for viable small businesses facing immediate financial hardship to help ride out the current uncertain economic times and return to profitability.”

Part of the federal economic stimulus initiative, the loans would provide funding for 18 months with no interest, no fees, and SBA backing.

When Sandy Elliott went to a presentation to learn more the ARC loan program, she found that access to the loan dollars wasn’t easy to come by.

Elliott, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, is owner of Interiors, Interiors, Interiors, a Marco Island design firm.

“I went to what they called a ‘town meeting’ at the Big Cypress market,” she said.

“I went out of curiosity. We are considering adding a division of our company to handle government work, and I had a meeting with a procurement officer who handles purchasing for government agencies.

“It turns out that the banks in the area offering the program are limiting it to existing customers, with no chance for others to participate. You had to be in the right place with the right bank.”

Bank of America, where Interiors, Interiors, Interiors does their banking, is not participating in ARC, said Elliott.

Dan Regelski, Director of the Small Business Development Center of Florida Gulf Coast University, was the facilitator for the town meeting. He said that while most banks involved are taking care of their existing customers first, “there are at least two banks, Wachovia and Key Bank, taking non-customer applications for the ARC program.”

Elliott said she had called Wachovia, and had not yet heard back from the bank.

Regelski said that the SBDC works with small businesses, and “we can help them through the application process.”

The business development center town meeting was one of five held throughout Southwest Florida. In addition to information on the ARC loan program, attendees heard from Collier County Commissioner Jim Colletta, and experts on the economic outlook, starting a small business, and what banks are looking for to allow them to approve a business loan application.

Gary Jackson, an economics professor at FGCU, said economic recovery will take years, not months, and “the worst has not yet come,” with unemployment expected to top 10 percent, and not drop back to five percent until 2012.

Regelski said approximately 75 people attended the town meeting, and he was very pleased with the turnout and level of interest.

Interiors, Interiors, Interiors moved to a new office on Park Avenue last year, in office space they have purchased, giving up their retail showroom after being turned down in their efforts to buy their previous location.

“In retrospect, it worked out very well,” said Sandy Elliott, “with the cost of inventory and retail space. The retail was taking 50 percent of out time and effort, and only generating 10 percent of our profits. We looked at the market and said ‘this is not where the world is going.’

“Absolutely, business is down. Our price-conscious customers have reined in their spending, and are being extremely cautious. Our quality customers from the luxury end are not as price-sensitive, and they understand what value interior design brings. We’re a necessity for them.

Even in the upper end of the market, said Elliott, “we’re not seeing many splashy, opulent displays these days. The trend is to understated elegance and green products. People want to be more eco-friendly. We have a new line of completely organic bedding.”

Elliott, who does work in the New York tri-state area, Chicago, Texas and New Mexico in addition to Southwest Florida, says that one key asset for her business is that repetitive name. “Once we say the name, they never forget it.”

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