2020 has shown businesses, employees, teachers, students, and families how important a good internet connection can be. The transition to doing work and school from home, for many, has been difficult. Businesses and schools were not prepared for the curveballs that were thrown this year. St. Charles IT of St. Charles, Missouri, was built for these types of circumstances and has helped hundreds of customers make the switch.
Twenty-three years ago, Bill Mocca worked at Innovative Business Technologies as their marketing director. A few years later, Mocca was given the opportunity to purchase the company. He took on the challenge of being a small business owner and changed the name to St. Charles IT, to represent his goal of being the gold standard for IT companies in St. Charles County. The hundreds of people and businesses they have assisted during the work from home transition can all agree that the St. Charles IT team is the business to call.
When the stay-at-home orders were enacted in March, Mocca had concerns about what the future of his business would look like. He was proactive in planning out his finances, but even with careful planning, Mocca knew he would still need help with keeping the business open.
Sales were down 50% and the team altered their interactions with customers to comply with social distancing guidelines. Mocca was prepared to pivot his company to ensure clients could safely receive their services. Meetings became Zoom calls, employees began working from home, and staff wore masks at all times to ensure employee and customer safety.
Mocca has worked with Justin Schulz, the Director of the Missouri Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the Economic Development Center of St. Charles County for the last five years. “He’s been a very reliable source for information from the Small Business Admin. He’s always there to answer questions or give me information and not just myself but all the clients here,” said Mocca.
Mocca knew there were relief programs out there that could help his business survive the pandemic, but was overwhelmed with misinformation, “Justin was the first to come up to me and say, 'I know things are crazy and I’m looking into it.' Justin helped me tremendously to get the contacts that I needed to go for the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL),” said Mocca.
Equipped with the financial backing of the EIDL and PPP loan, St. Charles IT continued business while maintaining full payroll. Mocca was relieved and even picked up a new set of clients during the pandemic chaos.
As Schulz puts it, “Bill is a hard worker, but he has always understood the hard work must be done with focus and purpose. One of the reasons we work so well together is that he trusts I will direct him to accomplish his goals. This saved him valuable time that he could then deploy to ensure other aspects of his business were not being neglected.”
Hundreds of regular and new clients did not have the knowledge to make this transition, and that’s where the IT team stepped in. “I guess I could say we’re designed for this. We were made for this kind of a tragedy. We really helped a lot of people through pandemic to keep going and keep the flow of their business goals,” stated Mocca.
Thanks to the help of Justin Schulz and the Missouri SBDC, Mocca was able to obtain the EIDL and PPP loan, making it possible to maintain the employment of all his employees and help all his clients tackle the technology transition.
Mocca believes that the SBDC has continually made a huge difference for him and his company, “that relationship was paramount and I’m so glad that I had that relationship prior to this pandemic. I encourage all businesses out there, don’t wait for a disaster to talk to your local SBDC. You never know what’s going to happen in the future. You never know what kind of programs are coming down the line or how they’re going to help your business. Start building those relationships today.”
Website: www.stcharles.tech
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St-Charles-IT-188619808633031/