Small businesses were once the heart-and-soul of downtown Phoenix.
Now, downtown businesses and their owners are suffering tremendous losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has shut most of them down at least temporarily. Many have lost up to 90% of their daily sales while laying off more than half their staff, according to Tanairi Ochoa-Martinez, director of Local First’s Fuerza Local program, which aims to increase financial literacy especially among Spanish-speaking small business owners.
In order to provide immediate financial relief to small businesses affected by COVID-19, Local First Arizona and its community partners are launching a small business relief fund to provide mini grants to small business owners.
Local First is known for supporting a sustainable Arizona economy by promoting locally-owned businesses and providing them the resources they need to succeed.
“They’ve invested not only money, but their heart and soul into their businesses,” said Ochoa-Martinez. “It’s been devastating, as business owners this is their sole income.”
Local First is supporting local businesses suffering damage from the coronavirus by encouraging consumers to buy from local restaurants, providing funding resources and hosting webinars on the next steps local businesses can take.
Most family-owned businesses with up to three employees are completely out of work with no revenue coming into their households, according to Local First founder Kimber Lanning.
Ochoa-Martinez said that during this time, landlords are beginning to crack down on small business owners struggling to keep up with the bills for their homes and businesses. Lanning spoke with property owners and landlords to advocate for keeping tenants in their place.
“It’s emotional work, they open their hearts to us,” Ochoa-Martinez said. “It can get emotional to see a business owner almost losing hope and very devastated with us doing our best to bring them hope, solutions, and strategies.”
Local First gets creative in solutions by bringing on experts like business attorneys, marketing teams and social media experts who perform pro bono work for small businesses to help them apply for loans, negotiate leases or implement strategies to stay afloat.
Small businesses are also getting creative with selling groceries, curbside delivery and takeout orders to maintain sales.
Businesses deemed nonessential aren’t making any sales and are the most negatively impacted by the pandemic.
“It’s heartbreaking watching these hardworking small business owners have the rug ripped out from under them and they’re scrambling trying to make it work,” Lanning said.
She also said she doesn’t believe the government is doing its part to provide relief in a quick and organized manner.
“Businesses that applied for assistance three weeks ago are being told to do it again,” she said. “The biggest banks haven’t been distributing the funds to small businesses in Arizona, and that’s caused a logjam.”
Some ways that volunteers and consumers can help support local businesses are by ordering takeout meals and continuing to shop at Arizona businesses by ordering from them online.
“We’ve gotta help each other,” Lanning said. “Keeping those dollars only circulating here locally is more important now than ever.”
Contact the reporter at kbcole5@asu.edu.
