CT Business Owners Thankful For State Grants

CONNECTICUT — Some Connecticut businesses that were hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic have received checks from the state as a bridge to the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

Connecticut created a $35 million business recovery program using federal funds for the 2,000 businesses that were hit the hardest by the pandemic. Around 60 percent of the money went to the restaurant and lodging industries, said state Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner David Lehman in a roundtable discussion about small business struggles in Connecticut.

The businesses were automatically enrolled and checks for between $10,000 and $30,000 started going out Friday, Lehman said. PPP loan applications opened Monday, but it will take time for businesses to be approved and for funds to be disbursed.

Another $50 million grant program helped small businesses with no more than 20 full-time employees or a payroll less than $1.5 million in 2019. Grants were for up to $5,000.

Gov. Ned Lamont said the state will try its best to keep businesses open and keep rules consistent. As for future funding he remained optimistic that President-elect Joe Biden and the new Congress will put together another robust relief package.

The state is sitting on a record rainy day fund, but current law restricts how the money can be used, Lamont said.

The fund is meant to soften economic blows that would normally put the state into the bad position of borrowing money to pay for expenses. Connecticut is also dealing with large budget deficits in future fiscal years and the impact of the pandemic hasn’t been easy to predict on state finances.

Around 70 percent of Connecticut restaurants are independent, said Connecticut Restaurant Association President Scott Dolch. That makes it harder for the industry to survive economic downturns. He also called January and February the “dark time” for the industry with no outdoor dining and 50 percent indoor capacity.

Still, Dolch said the industry was grateful for Connecticut’s consistency while some other neighboring states see restaurant capacity go up and down.

There is no question that the pandemic has devastated the restaurant industry, said Dan Meiser, restaurant owner and Connecticut Restaurant Association chairman. He owns four restaurants including the popular Oyster Club in Mystic which has seen a 60 percent drop in revenue due to the pandemic. Two of his more casual grab-and-go restaurants have thrived in the pandemic environment, he said.

Increased consumer confidence should come in the spring and especially during the summer as more people are vaccinated, Meiser said. He hopes for a boomerang effect where people who have been isolated for a year are eager to go dining.

Restaurants and hotels aren’t the only industries that have been decimated by the pandemic. Downtown Hartford food traffic has sharply reduced now that many corporations have told their employees to work remotely from home, said Jody Mourneault, owner of clothing store Morneaults Stackpole Moore Tryon.

“It literally looks like a neutron bomb went off,” she said.

Mourneault has been a retailer for 42 and has weathered several economic downturns, but all of them pale in comparison to the economic damage wrought by the pandemic.

“Our industry is getting crumbled our wholesalers are going out of business our retail fronts are going out of business,” she said.
Morneault’s business received a small business grant from the state.

“I’m crying with joy and gratitude from you helping us,” she said.

Tolland Headliners Salon and Spa owner Kim Robinson had to reduce her space from 23 stations to 13 to keep six feet of distance. The salon industry can open to 75 percent capacity, but the six-foot rule prevents that at her salon, she said.

Grant money from the state helped with coronavirus-related expenses such as personal protective equipment costs, she said.

Hair salons and barber shops were some of the first businesses closed by the state during the beginning of the pandemic. They reopened around late May with strict rules regarding sanitation. Robinson said she is proud that the industry has seen very little viral transmission over more than half a year.

“We are successfully working through this,” she said. “I mean not like it was in 2019 for sure, but we are able to work and able to be open.”

This article originally appeared on the Across Connecticut Patch