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One of my favorite local businesses is closing forever — because Congress failed to respond to the economic crisis caused by Covid.
I stopped by yesterday to chat with the owner. I’m so angry.
We’re systematically destroying the productive capacity of our country.
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I stopped by yesterday to chat with the owner. I’m so angry.
We’re systematically destroying the productive capacity of our country.
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It’s a massage therapy and bodywork place. In business for 15 years or so. Super well-run. Early adopter of digital scheduling, the best customer service, long-term staff of about 12.
A few things the owner told me stood out.
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A few things the owner told me stood out.
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One is that running the business with Covid safety protocols was hard. But the real breaking point was having to home-school her kids at the same time. Parents', and let’s be honest, women’s businesses are being demolished by the lack of federal support for small business.
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Another is that her landlord didn’t budge an inch on the rent. A survey by @PtldBuyLocal found that almost 90% of small businesses here in Portland Maine have not gotten any concessions from their landlords.
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She got a PPP loan but that turned out to be a big hinderance when she looked at the possibility of selling the business to an employee.
Although forgivable, the PPP technically counted as debt, which made the financing for a sale impossible.
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Although forgivable, the PPP technically counted as debt, which made the financing for a sale impossible.
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Finally — and this is crucial for people to understand — she’ll never be able to build a business like this again. It’s too much work and capital, and now a legacy of debt, to overcome and do again.
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The Democrats are focused on the unemployed, and so they should be. But the total lack of attention to small businesses and the vague sense that they will somehow regenerate is so stupid and destructive.
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For one, it’s wrong — there’s a complex alchemy to creating a business that succeeds. And the entrepreneurs who are going under are not going to be able to do it again in most cases.
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And two, this lack of attention to small business is stupid politics at a time when Democrats need to be mounting a strong case for November, especially in a handful of states where this destruction of small business matters a lot.
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