It has been a little over a week since businesses were forced to close or shift their method of operation.
As everyone stays home for 15 days in an effort to flatten the curve and slow the spread of the coronavirus, Director of the Louisiana chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Dawn Starns, says she is surprised at how the stay at home order has effected small businesses so quickly, “It changed significantly in 10 days.”
She continues, “From the time we went out and surveyed our members, we did have about 6% telling us they were effected and worried about it to about 55%, So It is amazing how quickly it has changed and how quickly small businesses owners had been forced to adapt to it.”
In a bi-partisan effort last night, the Senate passed an economic relief plan called the CARES Act which Starns is hopeful will help businesses and workers through this hard time. “We will hopefully see that curve begin to flatten so that our economy can get back but the biggest part of that is the passage of the CARES Act.”
She explains how the CARES Act will help them recover, “It gives them an injection of cash in the form of a forgivable loan for up to 8 weeks and that will help them be sure they cover their salaries, their insurance benefits, their retirement contributions, all those things.”
Starns says the Department of Labor is working to make filing for the relief easier for small business owners so they can get the money they need quickly.Republican Whip Steve Scalise released a statement today, outlining the provisions in the CARES Act which will go before the House of Representatives for consideration on Friday.