Just Born Quality Confections Statement Concerning Receipt of Small Business Association (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Funds
7/7/20
Just Born met all of the qualifications of the Small Business Association (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and applied for and received a loan through its primary banking institution.
Although deemed an “essential business” by state and federal authorities, we temporarily suspended production for a 6 week period that extended from mid-March to early May to ensure the health and safety of our associates, which is our top priority. We also continued to provide full pay and benefits for all associates throughout this shutdown. During this suspension of production, we made changes to processes and procedures in our facilities to help optimize our associates’ health and safety, and we provided a temporary increase in pay for those plant associates who returned to work in May. While the closure of the plant was the right decision for everyone’s health and safety, it impacted our ability to produce resulting in out of stocks of our everyday products, as well as the cancellation of seasonal products until Easter 2021.
We were pleased to receive a PPP loan which has been deployed as intended by the CARES Act and SBA and within all PPP guidelines to provide capital at a critical time to ensure the ongoing viability of our business while the company’s production facilities remained shut-down and to enable the company to restart production in early May.
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About Just Born Quality Confections:
Just Born Quality Confections is a third-generation family-owned company that has grown into the 10th largest candy company in the U.S. [*] Just Born is the maker of some of America’s most beloved and iconic brands – PEEPS®, MIKE AND IKE®, HOT TAMALES® and GOLDENBERG’S® PEANUT CHEWS®. In 1923, the founder, Sam Born, opened a small candy-making and retail store in Brooklyn, New York, where he marketed the freshness of his daily-made candy with a sign that declared, “Just Born.” Together with Born’s brothers-in-law, Irv and Jack Shaffer, the company thrived in spite of the economic depression of the 1930s and, in 1932, moved its operations to Bethlehem, PA, which is still home to their iconic candy brands. All Just Born candies are proudly made in the U.S.A. For more information, please visit www.justborn.com Follow us: facebook.com/JustBornInc, twitter.com/JustBornInc.
* IRI Market Advantage Easter 2019 (11 WE 04/28/19), Total Multi-Outlet; Includes Non-Seasonal Jelly Beans