Haliey Welch Loans $10k to Save Tenn. Hat Company Selling 'Hawk Tuah' Merch

Haliey Welch swooped in to rescue the hat company hawking her "Hawk Tuah" merch ... spitting out some cash to keep the biz running.

Jason Poteete, founder of Fathead Threads, in Lewisburg, TN tells TMZ ... Haliey recently loaned his company $10K in a desperate time of need, helping save the company.

While the brand's "Hawk Tuah" hats have been selling like hotcakes since Haliey went viral last month for her NSFW street interview, Jason says the majority of the $190,000 in sales were locked up in a PayPal account.

Jason says he couldn't access the funds -- claiming PayPal was convinced he was running a fraudulent biz due to the massive number of sales in such a short period -- and didn't have the money to fulfill outstanding orders.

Haliey's biz partner says he had about 2,500 orders to fill and only access to $2,000 from the PayPal account ... and he needed more cash to pay for manufacturing, shipping and other costs associated with filling orders.

At first, Jason says he started asking family members for money and then went to the bank to get a loan so he could fill the orders ... and the stress of it all made him physically ill and anxious.

Enter Haliey.

Jason says he clued Haliey in on the situation last Friday ... she gets a portion of the Hawk Tuah merch sales and he tells us he didn't want her to think he was holding out on her financially.

Once Haliey heard Jason out, he says she offered to loan him the $10,000 he needed to keep the business moving ... a stunning gesture Jason says made him overcome with joy.

Since Haliey's loan, Jason says things have gotten a lot better at Fathead Threads ... he says PayPal finally gave him $90,000 in earnings. He says he still has a lot more money locked up in his account, but tells us there's no doubt Haliey helped save the biz.