Northeast Governor’s Plan: Small Businesses Want to Reopen When its Safe for Customers, Employees
Regional plan of by Governors is welcome if it’s not one-size-fits-all, if businesses can be heard

TRENTON April 13, 2020 – Today Governors in a handful of Northeastern States held a conference call to discuss a regional plan for reopening the economy when it’s time to lift some restrictions on the public and businesses. NFIB believes it is important to have those discussions now because a huge number of small businesses are in a financial crisis of immense proportions.  While the business owners do want their employees and customers to be safe, a recent survey by NFIB showed most of these companies’ cash reserves could run out in one to two months making reopening not an option.

“It may be helpful to have consistent regulations among states, and it is good to know that these Governors are considering a plan to reopen the economy when the time is right, but time is running out quickly for small businesses,” said Tim Goodrich, NFIB Executive Director of State Government Relations. “Small business owners hoped the federal loans might help get them over this very difficult time, but the Paycheck Protection Program Loan rollout had glitches, and now the Emergency Injury Disaster loans have turned out to be a real disaster.”

NFIB says that the EIDL loans were applied for about a month ago and the money has not yet reached most small businesses that applied. The promised $10,000 upfront grant that a business could apply for if they applied for the EIDL loan was lowered to just $1,000 per employee over concerns the funds would run out. NFIB asks that the SBA work out these problems and get the money to those who so desperately need it immediately.

“This health crisis can cause sickness and death, and it must be addressed, but the risks from the economic crisis are extremely serious too,” said Eileen Kean, state director of NFIB in New Jersey.  “If we don’t save these small businesses that employ around half of the workers in the state, and contribute about half of the state’s GDP, we will have financial and emotional devastation among workers and their families.”

“It will be important for these governors to understand how these small businesses operate and get the business owners’ input to be able to make informed decisions,” said Kean. “It is in the interest of the employees, customers, and the state that these small businesses open if they can do so safely before it’s too late. The longer they remain shut down it could require many more years to recover.”

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For more than 75 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.