Denver Post: Castle Rock restaurant that defied public health order in May closes permanently two months later. “A Castle Rock restaurant that became a lightning rod in the debate over personal freedom during the coronavirus shutdown has closed permanently. C&C Breakfast and Korean Kitchen lasted just two months — though it remained closed for one of those — after its owners defied public health orders and re-opened their business during the shutdown in an effort to save it.”
small business
Washington Post: Scathing SBA watchdog report details ‘pervasive’ fraud in coronavirus disaster-loan program
Washington Post: Scathing SBA watchdog report details ‘pervasive’ fraud in coronavirus disaster-loan program. “A federal watchdog reported Tuesday that it has identified $250 million in taxpayer-subsidized coronavirus loan funds given to ‘potentially ineligible recipients,’ pointing to a strong likelihood of widespread fraud in an important but troubled economic assistance program. The Small Business Administration’s office of inspector general launched numerous investigations after receiving more than 1,000 hotline complaints about potentially fraudulent transactions, according to a report released Tuesday. It also criticized the agency for allegedly failing to put in place internal controls to prevent abuse.”
Eat out to help out: Coronavirus scheme offering UK diners 50% off begins (BBC)
BBC: Eat out to help out: Coronavirus scheme offering UK diners 50% off begins. “Diners across the UK will be able to enjoy half-price meals throughout August from Monday, as part of a government scheme aimed at boosting restaurants and pubs post-lockdown. ‘Eat out to help out’ applies to eat-in food and drink on Monday to Wednesdays at more than 72,000 venues.”
Bloomberg: One-third of U.S. restaurants facing permanent closure, forecast says
Bloomberg: One-third of U.S. restaurants facing permanent closure, forecast says. “As many as 231,000 of the nation’s roughly 660,000 eateries will likely shut down this year, according to an estimate from restaurant consultancy Aaron Allen & Associates provided to Bloomberg News. This will bring the industry’s steady growth to a halt and mark the first time in two decades that U.S. restaurant counts don’t climb. Restaurants have already shed millions of jobs this year, economic data show.”
Republican American: Black-owned businesses in state get their own website
Started in January and I apparently missed it. From the Republican American: Black-owned businesses in state get their own website. “A collaborative effort by a team of 30 volunteers, the website has a directory with links to Black-owned businesses in the state and also provides marketing resources for them. Since its launch July 1, 775 businesses, covering everything from restaurants to consultants to photographers, have signed on.”
New York Times: These Businesses Lasted Decades. The Virus Closed Them for Good.
New York Times: These Businesses Lasted Decades. The Virus Closed Them for Good.. “Nearly 3,000 small businesses in New York City have closed for good in the past four months, blaming falling revenue, vanished tourism and ballooning debt, especially for overdue rent. Some older businesses pointed to their failure to develop robust online commerce that might have carried them through the tough times.”
‘A Band-Aid on a bullet wound’: Workers are getting laid off anew as PPP runs out (Washington Post)
Washington Post: ‘A Band-Aid on a bullet wound’: Workers are getting laid off anew as PPP runs out. “The phone stopped ringing at the Nelsons’ auto-body shop in Broomfield, Colo., in March. The normal four-to-six-week wait for customers looking to have dents or bumps fixed on their cars disappeared, leaving the shop silent. Tammy Nelson and her husband, Scott, applied in April for a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program — the federal government’s chaotic $660 billion aid program meant to help businesses and their workers stay afloat. But the PPP loan had only delayed the inevitable — the phone didn’t start ringing again amid the surging pandemic. Nelson laid off her five employees at the end of June, including herself and her husband. They are among the first wave of PPP layoffs happening across the country, as the loan program begins to expire.”
BuzzFeed News: Main Street Is Crumbling Before Our Eyes — And No One Seems To Be Able To Save It
BuzzFeed News: Main Street Is Crumbling Before Our Eyes — And No One Seems To Be Able To Save It. “The coronavirus has been a catastrophe for companies across the country, but the government’s small business loan program was supposed to help keep them afloat. For millions of entrepreneurs — those once hopeful and inspired enough to earn their living from small storefronts, restaurants, salons — the dream was to create a business that would sustain their families and help build communities. But for many of them, the end is in sight as the pandemic continues, and relief programs have failed to come to their aid, like rescue planes too full and far up to see all the people still drowning.”
CNBC: Retail workforce could face permanent decline as companies take blow from pandemic, lockdowns
CNBC: Retail workforce could face permanent decline as companies take blow from pandemic, lockdowns. “More than one in four American jobs were supported by the retail industry before the Covid-19 crisis hit the U.S., according to the National Retail Federation. That made retail the largest private sector-employer in the country. (That number includes people who work directly for a retailer, like at an apparel store, warehouse or coffee shop. It also includes jobs created by the industry, such as construction workers building a mall.)”
Mashable: Yelp says more than half of restaurants temporarily closed are now permanently shuttered
Mashable: Yelp says more than half of restaurants temporarily closed are now permanently shuttered. “Yelp’s Economic Average report out Wednesday shows exactly how tough: 60 percent of the 26,160 temporarily closed restaurants on the business review site as of July are now permanently shut. Temporary closures are dropping, and permanent shutdowns are increasing.”
Washington Post: ‘No mask, no entry. Is that clear enough? That seems pretty clear, right?’
Washington Post: ‘No mask, no entry. Is that clear enough? That seems pretty clear, right?’. “I’ll never understand what’s so hard about putting on a mask for a few minutes. It’s common sense. It’s a requirement now in North Carolina. But this is a conservative place, and there are only 900 people in this town. We try hard to get along. We’re a small general store, and we didn’t want to end up in one of those viral videos with people spitting or screaming about their civil rights. We put a sign outside — an appeal to kindness. ‘If you wear a mask, it shows how much you care about us.’ We found out how much they cared. It became clear real quick.”
CNN: Bipartisan duo tries to create opening for broader small business coronavirus-relief program
CNN: Bipartisan duo tries to create opening for broader small business coronavirus-relief program. “As US lawmakers prepare this week to launch negotiations over the next round of stimulus funding, a bipartisan duo is pushing a proposal to aid small businesses that eschews the more targeted approach under consideration. It’s a push that isn’t guaranteed to succeed, particularly amid public outrage at the ability of larger public companies to tap into the emergency forgivable loan program, known as the Paycheck Protection Program.”
The Conversation: Microfinance loans could spell disaster in the time of coronavirus
The Conversation: Microfinance loans could spell disaster in the time of coronavirus. “Microfinance programmes – small-scale lending programmes targeted at low-income households that normally fall through the cracks of formal lending systems – were supposed to provide the poor with the capital they need to open a street stall, invest in their farmland, or buy materials to make handicrafts. Up until the late 2000s, microfinance was hailed as a financial magic bullet by many. It would lift the world’s poor out of poverty and empower women. Only, it hasn’t quite turned out that way.”
Los Angeles Daily News: Local businesses find more errors in federal PPP loan data
Los Angeles Daily News: Local businesses find more errors in federal PPP loan data. “Loans from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, more commonly known as PPP, were meant to be a lifeline for local businesses navigating the coronavirus pandemic. It succeeded, by almost all accounts, but left news reporters across the country baffled when they found the data, released this month, riddled with errors. The size of some loans were overstated by millions — including one South Bay business whose $66,000 loan was somehow listed as between $5 to $10 million, this newsgroup found — while some were counted twice.”
KUTV: New Utah Black Pages site highlights Black-owned businesses
KUTV: New Utah Black Pages site highlights Black-owned businesses. “The Utah Black Chamber is partnering with a local software company to launch a website highlighting Black businesses. [The site] officially became an active site on Wednesday. The space offers resources on how to connect with local Black-owned businesses.”
