Frustrated to see another aid grant he did not qualify for, Pierrick Heudes turned to crowdfunding to raise money to save the French bakery he owns in downtown Moncton.
The province’s latest award is aimed at helping independent entrepreneurs like Heudes who have no employees with a one-time deposit of $ 2,000. He is ineligible because his business made less than $ 30,000 last year.
“I do not know what to think, as at one point they are trying to help small businesses like me. “At the end of the day, all the criteria they are looking for … it does not help anyone,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.
He said even if he qualifies for the latest grant, it will not help much.
“It’s just two grand; it will only give me another month to just keep going, ”he said, adding that the crowdfunding campaign was a last resort.
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When he opened his cafe for the first time in 2019, business was booming, but the exodus of office workers from the city center made it a struggle to stay open.
He said he was not eligible for any aid programs, and said the banks could not help him.
In a written statement provided to Global News on Thursday afternoon, an Opportunities NB spokesman said the latest grant was intended to be complementary to other utilities, citing federal programs such as the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit.
John Wishart, CEO of Moncton’s Chamber of Commerce, said he had heard similar stories from other entrepreneurs in the Greater Moncton area, with the $ 30,000-a-year threshold for the latest award worrying.
“We are at a point in the trajectory of COVID-19 when the government needs to support as many businesses as possible. The closer we hopefully get to the finish line … we will hate to see some do not make it, because we did not think of certain criteria or the bar was just too high for some. ”
He calls for a more holistic, less complicated approach to include as many business owners as possible
“Many of these programs are on condition that you prove a certain level of income in 2019 or 2020. If you were brave enough to start a business during a pandemic, it’s really hard to meet those income targets,” he said. Wishart said.
“So this is another way in which these programs may not be as inclusive as they should be.”
For Gentiles, the thought of having to close is heartbreaking.
“I have already put all my personal time and money into my company in my dream.”
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