Covid-19 Impacting local businesses

Covid-19+Impacting+local+businesses

Chloe Ford, Writer

 

The new Coronavirus is in control of all of us, it has taken control of the way we live now. This new virus has impacted everyone and has made us all change what we do in our daily lives including, going to school, going to work, playing sports, hanging out with friends, or something as simple as going to the grocery store. Governor Larry Hogan has issued an order on March 23, 2020 for all non-essential businesses to close. That order is meant to protect the safety of all citizens, but what it also did was impact all small and local businesses. 

 

We have many small, local, independent businesses in Frederick all around us. Many businesses are finding ways to keep going and making money, for example, some restaurants and bakeries are doing take out and curbside pickup (refer to the link at the bottom of the page for a list of these restaurants). Other businesses like 24/7 Dance Studio have been emailing pre-recorded videos to families for children to follow along and stay engaged in exercises and dance routines. Even though many small businesses are trying to find the light in everything going on, many of them are feeling a strong financial crunch. According to Tom Huddleston Jr. (CNBC), “The disruption to businesses from coronavirus could lead to 15,000 permanent retail store closures in 2020…” also, “as a recent Goldman Sachs survey of more than 1,500 small business owners found that more than 50% of them said they didn’t think they could continue operating their businesses for more than three months amid the current conditions.” This virus is causing many businesses to have no other option than to close due to no income, not being able to pay off personal expenses, and some can’t afford to pay the rent or mortgage on their buildings and homes. 

 

Although, there have been some orders put into place to help some of these small businesses. Governor Larry Hogan has released a “Maryland COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund” that allows Maryland to have authorization to $130 million in loan and grant funding for small businesses that have been negatively impacted by the Coronavirus. Businesses in any industry could qualify as long as their business meets the requirements of the program. Requirements can be found here. According to the Maryland Department of Commerce, “This emergency assistance provides interim relief and proceeds that can be used to pay cash operating expenses including payroll, suppliers, rent, fixed debt payments and other mission critical cash operating costs.So if you or someone you know owns a small business please advise to file for either the loan fund, grant fund, or manufacture fund. These funds could substantially help any small business owner in these uncertain times. 

In these tough times our communities should be coming together, helping and encouraging each other to keep on going. If you are interested, there is something that we can all do to help support some of our favorite small business owners! Some ways you can contribute are:

 

  1. Shopping Local (Online and Home Delivery) 
  2. For restaurants, order takeout or delivery and tip the same amount as you would dining in
  3. Tune in for online classes, activities, gatherings, etc. being offered by local businesses
  4. Offer donations and contributions to businesses and organizations offering them

 

For lists of, stores you can shop online with delivery, restaurants that offer carry out and delivery, and activities and online classes, please refer to Downtown Frederick’s “How to Stay Safe and Support Downtown Frederick Businesses” 

 

For a way to donate to Fredericks COVID-19 Emergency Relief Campaign please visit COVID-19 Emergency Relief Campaign. Dollars raised through this campaign will be used to support nonprofits who directly help those adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis.