Montgomery (AL) Advertiser,
Hadley Hitson
Montgomery Advertiser
October 28, 2021
First, Richard Grice lost two of his employees who died in August after testing positive for COVID-19. Then, after falling behind on monthly payments, he lost all of his logging equipment to the company that financed it. Luckily, he says, he didn’t put his home up for collateral like one of his colleagues did.
Finally, as his five kids began the new school year, Grice stopped trying to save the business he had built from the ground up.
After 20 years, Grice Logging and Trucking closed its doors and let go of the seven employees who had remained with the company through its bitter end.
“Everything happened overnight,” Grice said. “I went from making around $800,000 to $1 million a year to now back down making $1,000 a week.”
The Butler native started his company after returning from a tour in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps, and he was proud of its steady growth.
Every four or five years, Grice was able to hire a few more truck drivers and finance new equipment as he acquired more clients. Even when excessive rain would cause occasional production delays, the company’s expansion was predictable because the timber industry as a whole was predictable.
Alabama has the third largest timberland base in the U.S., and for years, the number of jobs available was on a continuous incline. In fact, this is still the case.
As the demand for lumber skyrocketed during the pandemic, though, Grice faced a different set of struggles. In early March 2020, he leased $1 million worth of new logging equipment, expecting the growth he was seeing in his company to continue.
Instead, what followed was a series of calamitous events: COVID consumed the country, employees quit, replacements couldn’t be found quick enough, historic heavy rain stopped production, and Grice ran through his savings trying to keep the company above water.
The pandemic pressures culminated in the company’s closure two months ago.
Now, Grice works as a truck driver in West Alabama, driving for what he estimates to be 12- to 15-hour shifts up to six days a week. His first day on the job was less than a week after losing his company.
“I couldn’t just sit around being sad and miserable, because I still have a wife and kids at home. So I went and got a job and kept moving,” Grice said. “Now I’ve got to do what somebody else says for less money. I’ve got to work more hours for less money. That’s affecting me.”
He tries not to let his emotions dull his motivation to work, but still, he feels heavy.
On top of mounting bills for his home and disappointment from the employees he let go, Grice said he struggled to grieve the deaths of Steve Gordon and Scott Harris, his crew members who died after becoming infected with COVID-19.
Gordon was his right-hand man; Harris was a truck driver for the company.
“When they passed, that really hurt me,” Grice said. “I needed them.”
Several other Grice Logging and Trucking workers left the company during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were among the millions of Americans who quit during what has come to be known as, “The Great Resignation,” of the pandemic. Some feared unsafe work environments, while others suffered burnout during the pandemic or simply re-evaluated their priorities.
Even with a 41% smaller workforce, Grice found hope in the Paycheck Protection Program, the $800 billion federal loan program designed to help small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic.
Grice Logging and Trucking ultimately received $20,833 through the program, but he said that wasn’t enough to make a significant impact.
“What really hurt me is that there were other companies that have been here not as long as I have getting much more in PPP loans,” Grice said. “I still can’t figure out how people who are already up there and really don’t need any help collect all of the money.”
PPP loans were calculated based on the average monthly payroll costs for a business owner and employees, and using the U.S. Small Business Administration’s PPP Loan Calculator, Grice said the maximum amount he should have been able to receive was $100,000.
Outlets like The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times have reported concerns over racial disparities in PPP loan distribution. Over a month after the program began, the SBA Office of the Inspector General concluded that the agency did not direct private lenders to prioritize minority and female-owned businesses as Congress had intended. Reports of concerns continued into 2021.
Three white-owned logging and trucking companies in West Alabama received more than five times the amount that Grice did in PPP loans, according to the data disclosed by the SBA.
However, Sumter Timber Company, Bar Forest Products and Rolison Trucking listed more employees than Grice Logging and Trucking on their PPP applications. Owners of these companies did not respond to requests for interviews by the time of publication.
“Certain people run certain towns. They always have,” Grice said.
Nonetheless, Grice can’t see a clear path toward reopening his business any time soon. Grice plans to continue truck driving until he finds another career opportunity, and he hopes it will be “just enough.”
Hadley Hitson covers the rural South for the Montgomery Advertiser and Report for America. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com.