Speaker: Thomas Needham, Owner / Go Green Grill
Please introduce yourself and tell us about your business.
Thomas Needham: Hi, my name is Tom Needham and I'm the owner, along with my wife, Melanie, of Go Green Grill. We run a food truck business here in Charlotte. We offer healthy alternatives to your typical street food. We launched with a single truck in 2017 and expanded to two trucks in 2019. And this has become not only our business but also our passion.
How has your business been impacted by the pandemic and the business environment in your community?
Thomas Needham: Being that we are in the food truck industry, as you might imagine, the pandemic wreaked havoc on our business. We are reliant on foot traffic and and really people being out and about and that all came crashing down a few years ago. And there were times when I really thought we were going to lose everything. Even now things have picked up. But with many companies being in the hybrid state, we are seeing more business, more foot traffic. But it's still not quite like it once was.
What role has Truist played in helping move your business forward.
Thomas Needham: What role did Truist play? Well, as I mentioned, there were many nights when I didn't know what we were going to do. This isn't just our job. This is our family's business, this is how we take care of our children. Many sleepless nights. Truist well, our small business advisor put us on track to learn about a lot of different opportunities, forgiveness programs. And really, we felt like we weren't alone, like we had a partner and a partner who cared for us.
