We Are Open Again
Darion and Jillian Knight became the new owners of Prairie Gymnastics in 2018. Prairie Gymnastics is a “neighborhood” gym, locally owned, community based and family friendly. They offer preschool gymnastics for children 2-6 years of age, recreational gymnastics and tumbling for children 6 and up, competitive gymnastics, preschool open gym time, birthday parties, Parent’s Night Out, and field trips. All of their staff members are USAG Professional members, USAG Safety certified, background checked, dedicated to educating kids through the sport of gymnastics, and lots of fun!
On March 15, 2020 they had to go, like most of us, into lock-down mode. For a business like Prairie Gymnastics that meant immediately zero revenue – but bills had to get paid. The business can only function with trusted staff. The most painful moment for a business owner is when employees that helped growing the business can’t get paid, or leave due to mitigating the threat to their livelihood. Jillian and Darion immediately contacted their advisor Ute Westphal at IL SBDC at College of DuPage about their options.
The struggle for Prairie Gymnastics was not so much to get information about where to apply for EIDL and PPP. Their goals was clear- survive preferably with all their staff. They applied and got the help the needed.
"We came to Ute seeking direction, when trying to figure out the PPP process. She was able to give us the guidance we needed to make the process easier to handle. Thanks for everything!"
The challenge for them was to do it right by understanding the guidelines and apply
them to their business. Staff left and they had to find out how to apply their PPP
money so to be in the right framework for forgiveness. A lot of emails, phone calls
and math about payroll employee equivalents (FTE) later, Prairie Gymnastics reopened
safely, kept the amount of staff due to government disaster funds the way they were
intended.
Contact Information
Business Development Center
535 Duane Street, Office 233
Glen Ellyn IL 60137
(630) 942-2600
Email: bdc@cod.edu
Regular Hours
Monday through Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Map and Directions