Dakota Times

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, a local wine importer has bought some time through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

According to StarTribune, Bourget Imports is a wine importer that was able to score some funds from the program. Annette Peters and Terry Marek, partners of Bourget Imports, required additional aid in order to stay in business after the coronavirus situation caused their business to decrease by 50%. 

Peters received the PPP funding just in time as the funding from the first round ran out. 

Bourget Imports is just one of the more than 30,000 Minnesota businesses that received $7.6 billion in loans and federal records. 

While the wine company will be able to remain in business with the help of the funding, it is only guaranteed to stay above water for the next eight weeks. 

There are, of course, restrictions on what the money can be used for. 

“We can’t use it for inventory,” Peters said. “It is strictly to keep businesses open and people employed.”

Out of the many funding programs available, Peters chose PPP because she believed that it was the most versatile and would allow her to maintain her sales force. 

Even so, Peters is now struggling to discern how to keep her employees working once the PPP funds are depleted. Because of that, Bourget is reimagining how she markets her wines, as restaurants, which were a big buyer of her product, are no longer offering in-house dining. 

Peters has been pushing for a measure that would allow restaurants to see alcohol with their takeout orders and has gained more than 18,000 signatures for the petition. 

The Legislature did decide to allow restaurants to begin to sell a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer along with the takeout meals they sell. 

At the same time, Peters is aware that it might be difficult to stay in business if the coronavirus stay-at-home order is further extended.