Raul A. Morales is a retired U.S. Air Force veteran living in Laurel Hill, a small town near Fort Walton Beach in Okaloosa County, Florida in an area populated by a two active Air Force bases in Okaloosa County (Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field), an Air Force Reserve base (Duke Field), and an Army base (7th SOF Group). His business, Harmony Vending, Inc., has been operational since 2016 and services all of those installations except Duke Field.

The Florida VBOC began working with Raul in January 2020 when he saw the need to expand his operations and needed help with budgeting, managing cash flow, and securing additional funds for more equipment. VBOC business consultant, Janice Benggio, recently contacted Raul to see how his business was holding up amid the COVID-19 situation and to make sure he was aware of relief programs, Paycheck Protection Program, (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loans. As it turns out, Raul was fortunate to receive $2,000 from the EIDL program. After closing out his April books, he was shy of his anticipated gross sales goal by only 25%. The EIDL proceeds helped him sustain his business as he continued to serve his customers and consider opportunities for further sustainability.

Raul stated, “Turns out that vending at the military bases is an essential business, so I’ve been able to continue at about 75% capacity through the crisis. Some locations have been shut down, but others, like dorms, have picked up significantly. Off-base is a different picture. I have a location with three machines that have residents and medical staff, and it has maintained with no drop. The rest of the locations have laid down flat, or are slow to sporadic. All in all, I am pleased with the fact that I’m still servicing machines.” Raul added, “I have been keeping up with all the info you guys have been sending, very much appreciate that! Since I’m USAF retired, I still get paid and felt the best thing to do was use the EDIL and not the PPP. Again, thank you for keeping us informed.”

The Florida Veterans Business Outreach Center is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the US Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.