COEUR d’ALENE — The COVID-19 pandemic, in the words of Joel Nania, was “a brutal culling of the herd” for small businesses.

"Some businesses that were not so healthy going in did not come out. Some businesses that were healthy going in didn’t come out,” said Nania, who is the Spokane branch office manager for the Small Business Administration. The SBA is a federal entity that was founded in 1953 to help small business owners and entrepreneurs pursue the American dream.

"Let’s strengthen the businesses that have now gotten through the pandemic so that they are stronger," Nania said. "Who knows what the next thing is going to be? We want to make sure those businesses are as strong as they possibly can be, and we’re going to help them grow and get stronger."

Nania spoke during the Hayden Chamber of Commerce's Networking, Breakfast and Connection event Thursday morning at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn. He discussed small business pandemic relief, results for the Inland Northwest and programming that is helping small businesses pick up the post-pandemic pieces.

"Start, grow, expand and, certainly, recover,” Nania said. "That’s probably the hot word for the last two years, really. We kept thinking it was 'just one more month, one more month.’ If it was difficult for us, we appreciate how difficult it was for the small businesses, has been or still is."

Nania said building resilient businesses is the second goal in the SBA's strategic plan. The first goal is ensuring "equitable and customer-centric design and delivery of programs."

He said the SBA is doubling down on its efforts to ensure it has equitable distribution and information in multiple languages to anybody who wants to start or grow an existing small business.

"We want to make sure that our programs are available to everyone on an equal basis," Nania said.

The federal government provided nearly $1.2 trillion in COVID relief to 16 million small businesses. One of every three dollars the government has spent in response to COVID-19 has been administered by the SBA.

“We have really a strong program moving forward for the next several years here,” Nania said.

Nearly $8 billion went to small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program. The COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) provided $337 billion in loans. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund provided $28.6 billion to restaurants, but Nania said that amount was just a third of what was requested.

“Congress never came back to rebuild that program," he said. "Personally, I thought that program should have come before anything else, because restaurants took the hit, perhaps the worst of any kind of business."

Nania said $65 billion could have gone much further for restaurant revitalization.

“We keep keeping our fingers crossed that maybe Congress will come up with something," he said. "It was very helpful for the businesses who got it.”

The SBA also provided $14.6 billion in Shuttered Venue Operator grants.

“Those were places with big seating and for promoters of events, because obviously, events and performances just went away,” Nania said.

He said he was worried federal pandemic relief funds would not be fairly distributed to his region.

“My concern was, ‘Are we going to get equal treatment here in the Inland Northwest?’” Nania said. “I don’t know about you guys, but they kind of forget I’m here. I keep saying, 'Inland Northwest,' and they keep thinking it’s in Illinois somewhere."

He had the SBA create a chart to see how COVID program funds were distributed.

"I kind of held my breath when I was having them do this analysis,” he said. "Fortunately, we got fair treatment here in the Inland Northwest. That’s not always the case.

For those interested in starting or growing small businesses, or contracting with the federal government, the North Idaho Small Business Development Center is a resource on the North Idaho College campus.

“If your business isn’t all it could be — it could be a restaurant and you’d like to cater, it could be interior painting, it could be just about anything — the federal government buys everything," Nania said. "It is one of the biggest consumers of stuff from providers in the world.”

He said he encourages those interested to contact the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers person in the Small Business Development Center at NIC.

“She will work with you to help get your business registered in the strategic awards management system," Nania said.

He said hundreds of businesses have taken advantage of SBA loans. A piece of advice he offered for those considering starting or expanding their businesses: "Ask for assistance."

"You don’t necessarily have to be a do-it-yourselfer," he said.