Title:
AN ANALYSIS OF TWO FINANCIAL AID PROGRAMS FROM BOTH THE GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES

Authors:
Weishan Xu

ABSTRACT:
As not only a high school student, but also a part-time employee at a bubble tea shop, I noticed the struggle of our company during the pandemic. In August 2020, with a prediction that the pandemic would get better as the summer progressed, my manager decided to reopen the Lynnwood store, four months after the announcement of lockdown in Washington State. Motivated by the idea that people would be bored at home and thus would start coming out to parks, malls, and other public places, my manager made this choice. However, things didn't turn out the way we wanted. An increase in COVID-19 during the 2020-2021 winter contributed to a decline in business. During that winter, fewer customers came in and therefore management reduced the weekly hours of employees. By this time, the pandemic was worse than ever before, and fewer people were willing to risk their lives just for a cup of bubble tea. Even though my manager had been creating more promotions to attract both old and new customers, the store continued to struggle. Thankfully, the store benefited from the Paycheck Protection Program loan, which the government provided as the pandemic continued. Because of my own experience, I wanted to dive deeply into the different types of loans offered by the government and analyze the factors that maximized the efficiency for the firms that borrowed.