Backyard Grill and Bar thanks Northwest Bank, Paycheck Protection Program for helping employees

LOVES PARK, Ill. (WIFR) - One local restaurant used Mom and Pop Business Owners Day to recognize the people who helped keep them up and running as difficulties with the pandemic reached its height last year.

Owners at Backyard Grill and Bar say the Paycheck Protection Program helped keep their employees paid. In lieu of tips, employees were given a base raise to over $12 an hour. Rich Schmidt, owner of Backyard Grill and Bar, thanks their relationship with Northwest Bank in helping them navigate the new program, allowing them to ensure a steady paycheck and benefits for their workers.

“It has been a wild year it has been physically and mentally draining more than anything I’ve ever been through,” said Schmidt. “Just to worry about the staff to keep them going then to worry when the business came back, that you’ve got enough staff, and now that we are open I mean business has been very good and you want to be there for the employees and for the customers.”

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