Business owners tell Albany lawmakers: We are ill-prepared to reopen

May 13, 2020

Originally published in Newsday

A lack of personal protective equipment and inflexible terms on federal loans are undermining small businesses as they try to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, entrepreneurs told state lawmakers on Wednesday.

“I fear there will be a looming crisis when restaurants reopen without PPE for their employees and guests,” said Manhattan restaurateur Carlos Suarez. “Employees will be put at risk and guests will stay at home cooking…If people start getting sick, it could be devastating to our industry.”

He and other business owners testified at a virtual hearing held by 10 committees, one office and one taskforce of the State Legislature. They said they are ill-prepared for the economy’s reopening, which starts Friday in four upstate regions.

The entrepreneurs said they need guidance from Albany about how to reopen, and more flexibility on the use of Paycheck Protection Program loans from Washington.

Suarez, founder of Casa Nela in Greenwich Village, said he won’t be able to use his entire $2 million PPP loan in the required eight weeks because his four restaurants won’t be fully operational.

The loans are forgivable if at least 75% is spent on payroll within eight weeks. Otherwise, the loans carry a 1% interest rate and two-year term.

Suarez said the U.S. Small Business Administration should extend the period for spending loan money and allow loans to be forgiven even if more than 25% is used for nonpayroll expenses.

“There is absolutely no way I can repay a $2 million loan in two years,” said Suarez, adding he expects to lose $500,000 to $1 million this year. Prior to the coronavirus, his four eateries employed 250 people serving 5,000 diners per week.

Natasha Amott, owner of the cooking utensils store Whisk NYC in Brooklyn, said small merchants like herself need help to buy masks and hire cleaning services to disinfect their aisles regularly. Chambers of commerce and other local business groups could address these needs if they had federal and state funding, she said.

Amott and others also said they will likely close if they must pay more into the state unemployment insurance fund to cover the jobless benefits their workers are receiving. “I can’t be saddled with ridiculously high premiums,” she said, adding six of her 11 employees are furloughed.

Assemb. Edward Ra (R-Franklin Square) said the legislature should work with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration to forestall spikes in employer contributions to the unemployment fund and to eliminate regulations that hinder the growth of businesses.

State Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck), who helped to organize Wednesday’s marathon hearing, said when a small business shuts down the impact goes beyond the owner. “It harms every employee, it harms every downtown across the state,” she said. “It puts at risk the very promise of opportunity that is the cornerstone of the American Dream.”