ST. LOUIS — For a small business that started in a pig pen, Cohen Architectural Woodworking was doing great before the coronavirus epidemic and economic shutdown,
It had built cabinets for 850 Walmart stores over the years. It had grown to 88 employees and expanded to a plant of 12,000 square feet, then 54,0000 square feet, in St. James. It recorded sales of $12.6 million in 2019.
CFO Nate Cohen, 30, has done work for Rex Sinquefield and his wife since he was a teen and did all of the chess tables at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
This year, sales are off a third or more due to the economic shutdown, tracking at $8.5 million, but the firm has managed to keep all of its employees on the payroll, thanks to a $759,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan obtained through Phelps County Bank.
"That was our biggest success, using a small bank," Cohen said. "They processed it in three days, submitted it on a Monday night, and Thursday it was in my account."
The firm reacted quickly to the pandemic. Cohen had been visiting a sister in Hawaii for two weeks and returned March 13, not feeling quite right. Out of an abundance of caution, he self-quarantined. All company employees who travel for business self-quarantined. Almost all of the office staff began working from home, and the plant staff split into two shifts. Temperatures are taken for all employees at the plant daily.
No one got the virus.
"The owners took no pay till the PPP loan came through. We're just trying to do our best to keep people employed," Cohen said. "We have had no furloughs, layoffs or salary reductions, and we've been able to pay our rent and utilities. That's what the PPP loan helped us achieve."
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