May 12, 2020 — As shop owners and park lovers venture gingerly into Phase II of the state’s reopening, the interdependence of the public and private sectors is one of the things that’s become increasingly obvious. With many local businesses shuttered and the tourism sector on hold for the entire season, the county’s tax base is effectively shut down, too.
“That collaboration and that support between governments and the private sector is really at the forefront of the challenges that we’re faced with,” says Mary Anne Petrillo, the Executive Director of the thirty-year-old West Business Development Center, an organization that’s geared toward helping small entrepreneurs, especially women, make a go of it. West is largely funded by the state’s Small Business Administration, but it also received a Community Development Block Grant to operate the county’s microenterprise technical services program and a contract funded by an arm of the Department of Commerce for economic recovery services.
Recently, West held a series of roundtable discussions with various business owners and industry associations to figure out what they need to survive, and what strategies they’re proposing to open up safely. That information was gathered into an industry roundtable report for the public and the board of supervisors ad hoc economic recovery committee, consisting of Supervisors Ted Williams and Dan Gjerde.
What small businesses need most from local government right now is funding, says Petrillo. “The question is, can they get that from local governments? The challenge and what we’re seeing today is, local governments need funds to come in. We’re all connected...and it’s really apparent right now because of this global crisis. The local governments now need help from federal and state officials to support their services, and to bring money back into small businesses.”
Petrillo advises small business owners to take a good hard look at their cash management strategies right now. A low interest loan, she notes, is still a loan; but it may be what a business needs to stay afloat. “Take a step back and really revisit your business model,” she suggests. “Because maybe there are some smaller changes that could have a greater impact on generating revenue for your business. Now is the time to do that. And do it quickly. And do it very pragmatically.” Government assistance may be vital, but it’s not the fastest way to inject some much-needed cash into an endeavor.
Businesses with a well-established online sales portal and restaurants that were able to shift to a to-go menu are benefitting from that, though making major changes to a menu, Petrill notes, “is easier said than done,” especially for restaurants that relied on creating a unique dining experience for their patrons.
But keeping an eye on the connection between the public and private sectors is important for another reason, as well. Petrillo is also a big advocate collecting as much data as possible, to increase the likelihood of business owners getting more state and federal funding to help mitigate the disaster. To that end, West and the county have sent out an economic injury survey. “I really want to encourage every business owner, no matter how large or small you are, to do this survey,” she urges. “Because that kind of data is the difference between our county receiving additional funds or not receiving additional funds.”
With all the uncertainty, one thing is sure: “This is nobody’s fault,” Petrillo emphasizes. “This isn’t because you didn’t read your PnL (profit and loss income statement) correctly. This isn’t because you didn’t do online sales and should have. This is a pandemic...so we all have to be shifting our expectations about what’s really going to happen over the next six to twelve months.”