TACOMA, Wash. — Officials in Tacoma are trying to find solutions as businesses struggle to keep their doors open and residents struggle with unemployment.
Like many in Tacoma and across the country, Mayra Rosales didn’t think she would be out of work for so long. But as the doors of Hotel Murano continued to stay closed, she began to face some hard questions.
“I thought it was just for two weeks, but then it went on and on … how am I gonna pay my bills? How am I going to pay my utility bills? How am I going support my family?”
So what can be done to get people like Rosales back to work?
In the U.S., small businesses employ nearly half of the workforce, and local leaders like Tacoma City Council Member Robert Thoms are trying to help small businesses get the resources they need to stay open.
“If you’re a restaurant, and you didn’t make any money last month, but you have to spend $9,000 on an outdoor café, that can be difficult," he said. "So expanding lines of credit and the like. So we’re trying to be as helpful as we can with the (federal) CARES resources we have. Also opening up our other economic resources.”
The city launched the Resurgence Business Loan Program to help support small businesses in Tacoma. Through the program, applicants can request to borrow up to $25,000 and will not have to make payments until 2022. Applications for this loan start next Wednesday.
But it’s a delicate balancing act between keeping the public employed while also keeping them safe. Governments will need to be able to move quickly to address both challenges at the same time.
“I think the American spirit of entrepreneurialism is alive and well, and government needs to be flexible enough to make it work, both from a health perspective and a returning to work perspective,” Thoms said.
In the meantime, Rosales hopes to get back to work soon, and not just for herself.
“I only want to go back to work when it’s safe, because my family depends on me,” she said.
And safety is going to need to be a priority if businesses in Tacoma want to move forward in this environment.
“We’re hearing a lot from grocery store workers saying that they’re becoming more essential because they’re put in a position of interacting with the public more," Thoms said. “I think it’s fair to ask their employers, hey do we have the right masks, make sure we have the ability to keep our hands clean, and that we’re having the right spacing.”
Thoms also says that Tacoma is going to need to pull together to survive.
“We’re in this together, we’ve now learning more than ever our interconnectedness, and how our safety and well-being is connected to the actions of others. And so, that’s new," Thoms said. "We’ve always said it, but now we have to really feel it, because it has real ramifications."