“We closed our business and laid off all of our staff in March,” said Mat Graske, co-owner of Caydence Records & Coffee.

Slowly they tried to cope.

“We weren’t ready to go out of business and felt we had more work to do here in our community,” said Graske.

Then, thanks to a loan program developed by the state, this small business found some relief.

“It has helped us bring our staff back, it has helped us take care of all aspects of our business so that we can continue doing what we love to do,” said Graske.

Caydence Records & Coffee received approximately $ 22,000. Grove said for the 47% of Minnesotans who work for small businesses, this is much needed.

“We want to invest state money in these companies to help them through tough times,” Grove said.

Companies like this are starting to find a way to do this with help from the state. In fact, Grove said in August that job growth was up 1.5%.

“We are seeing around 40,000 new jobs coming back online which is a good thing, we hope the recovery will pick up speed of course,” Grove said.

For Graske, they were able to rehire their staff and keep their doors open.

“It helps us get back on our feet,” said Graske.

During National Small Business Week, the extra push came at just the right time.

“Come and support the small independent businesses. There is no doubt that they have been hit hard and we could use our support and we are working incredibly hard to create a safe atmosphere for you to come and enjoy,” said Graske.

DEED said it distributed around $ 30 million under the loan program, helping 1,000 different small businesses.