Tag: Small Business Administration

Attention Small Business Owners Including Sole Proprietors and Independent Contractors

Folks these are challenging times. I’ve only used the Slabbed twitter account one time in aid of my day job and that was yesterday when I goosed Hancock Bank after I got a bad report back from a client who submitted a Paycheck Protection Program Loan application at one of the branches. I am pleased to report that Hancock is now up and operational with these new loans with priority given to their existing deposit account holders which is very reasonable.

What I am not going to do is dispense financial advice here but I will give everyone a tip. The PPP program ends on June 30, 2020 so if your business has been adversely impacted by the pandemic start here and then make an appointment with your local banker. If you don’t believe in banking or you cheat on your taxes, with this program you’ll have also cheated yourself.

The demand surge for professional services is reminiscent of the days after Hurricane Katrina for us and I hear that the banks are being swamped. As always patience is the key as we muddle through this. Given that landscape I am astounded that any CPA firm would lay people off but such has happened. They must have been grossly overstaffed, either that or the firm is being run by morons.

Stay safe everyone.

Jefferson Parish Councilman at large Chris Roberts sued for defaulting on SBA backed loan

Folks, a cynical man would say the reason that Councilman Chris Robert’s Quiznos sub shop defaulted on its loan is because the River Birch folks weren’t buying enough food from him but whatever the case what we do know is Hancock Bank aka Whitney Bank filed suit against Roberts in August for defaulting on his SBA loan that got him started in that line of business. Before I get to that though a reader set me another suit Roberts is involved in that has an alternate explanation for the poor performance of the sandwich shop in Badeaux v Roberts et al.


So Councilman Roberts likes to hang at the casino late into the evening but it gets better. Continue reading “Jefferson Parish Councilman at large Chris Roberts sued for defaulting on SBA backed loan”

A rare Threefer: Vic Planetta gets off without jail time after defrauding the SBA of a cool million after Katrina.

Robin Fitzgerald has the skinny for the Sun Herald and this post is a threefer for the following three reasons:

  1. Slabbed has previously tagged along with the Sun Herald’s coverage of the case.  I’ll add someone had an advance heads up as to what was coming and stopped by here to register a bit of displeasure.
  2. St Slammany Parish DA Walter Reed is a lock ’em up and throw away the key type of guy unless a family member or Vic Planetta is involved in the crime. I am repulsed by the fact Reed would ask for leniency given his track record back home.
  3. The AP version of the story is online at NOLA.com and is Fitzgerald’s story heavily edited leaving out the Walter Reed factoid among others.  McClatchy evidently has a corporate policy of “404ing” their stories after a month or so but the AP version will be online at NOLA for years and that is where the site traffic interested in this niche topic will go and yes there is niche interest in this story.  Since the T-P restructuring news hit I’ve been mentally compiling a list of things newspapers do to slit their own digital throats, the above being but one example.  If I had not been making this point chances are I would have written about Reed’s letter for leniency and linked the story that would remain online for longer than a month in the AP report instead of the source.  For those reporters at McClatchy that wonder why blogs link the AP versions of your stories you now know the answer.

The future of journalism is here in cyberspace. Embrace it or perish.  Pro Bono Publico.

sop

Planetta cops a plea in a deal that spares his wife.

Last April I mentioned coast builder Vic Planetta on Slabbed being in trouble for defrauding the SBA on a 7 figure loan. Today Robin Fitzgerald reports for the Sun Herald that Vic is taking a plea deal which includes pre trial diversion for his wife Eileen in what can only be described as a best case scenario for Team Planetta.  There will be restitution but the article is silent on the issue of pokey time for Vic at Club Fed.

File this one under greed kills.

sop