Business across the country have faced unprecedented challenges for the last several months but the doors have been slowly swinging back open for business.
Small Business Week highlights local business owners; many of them are being hailed as heroes for surviving this unprecedented time. They’ve carried on by supporting their community through acts of kindness, connecting with regular customers or coming up with creative ways to keep their own staff employed.
BBB and the Small Business Administration (SBA) celebrate the perseverance, strength, and optimism small business owners have despite the challenges of the last several weeks. This week is also an ideal time to build on the trust many people feel with small businesses in their community.
This week, BBB intends to tell the story of small businesses and the communities they support. It would seem this experience has shown that small businesses truly are the lifeblood of a thriving local economy and create unique communities of businesspeople supporting one another.
BBB encourages everyone to visit a favorite small business, virtually or in-person, practicing social distancing and good hygiene. The more you’re able to buy locally, the more you boost the local economy as well as support small locally owned businesses.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan held a roundtable discussion today with local businesses at To Share Brewing Company in Manchester to discuss the small business relief that Hassan helped secure in recent COVID-19 packages and how business owners are approaching economic recovery from the pandemic. Businesses participating in the roundtable included To Share Brewing Company, Deo Mwano Consultancy, and Red River Theatres.
“Small business owners in our state have worked hard to adapt and keep their doors open during this pandemic,” Senator Hassan said. “I’ve worked to help ensure that they receive vital support, and I appreciated hearing from businesses today about the impact of the relief that we have secured and what they need to get through this pandemic.”
“It was great to have Senator Hassan here at To Share Brewery to talk with local businesses about how we’re working to get to the other side of this devastating pandemic,” said Jenni Share, co-owner, To Share Brewery. “The COVID-19 relief that Senator Hassan worked to pass into law – as well as tax relief that Senator Hassan secured for breweries – has played a big role in helping us and fellow businesses stay afloat, and I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Hassan to support our small business community.”
The American Rescue Plan includes the bipartisan Recovery Startup Assistance Act that Senator Hassan introduced to provide payroll assistance through the Employee Retention Tax Credit to new small businesses started during the pandemic. So far, many new businesses have been unable to access other COVID-19 relief programs. The Senator also helped lead efforts to permanently extend the reduction in excise taxes for craft breweries in the government funding and COVID-19 relief package in December.