This is kathleen from minnesota. Good morning. What is the state of Small Business in your Small Community . Everything is drivethru, but you cannot go in and sit down and eat. Its at disney had 30 two thousand jobs, so everything brickandmortar, you have to wear masks if youre going into the store. We are barely hanging on. The United States department of agriculture stopped giving out School Buses School lunches out on the buses. Host as we look at the state of Small Business including mississippi, what is your message to washington at this point . Where is Mitch Mcconnell . He put the bill on the table to be passed and he left town. Nancy pelosi put up the heroes act, and nobody is talking about recession. Nobody talking about people in the hospital that need ppe. This is dire. Just sitting at home ever since january of 2020, when the first covid19 came into mississippi. Ost thank you we want to hear from Small Business owners, employees, shoppers, folks like kathleen who live in mississippi we went to hear from you about the state of Small Business in your community. According to the Small Business association, Small Businesses generally nearly 40 four percent of economic output and account for two thirds of new hiring, and in terms of the definition of Small Business, they are generally considered employing more than about 500 workers. Ller said where is Mitch Mcconnell . Here he is come up a couple of comments on capital hill regarding the stimulus talks. Ive seen no evidence that several of my colleagues have suggested that they are open to it. Mcconnell talking about pandemic aid. Congress comes back next week and we will see what happens. We are trying to tie all of this to the state of Small Business in your community. This is Small Business saturday, all of this against this backdrop of this headline, nearly 100,000 establishments could temporarily shut down because of the pandemic, now out of business. Kevin is calling from texas. Good morning. Caller Small Businesses here at the beginning were really hit. Ard and now everything is starting to get back up again. People are out shopping and in restaurants. We have to wear a mask when we distance. We socially people are doing the responsible thing. They do not need government to tell them how to do everything in their lives. I shop just as much as i did before the pandemic, the same amount. At first all of the businesses were closed, but now in the last few months, we go in, and you got to wear a mask and Everything Else and keep your distance. There are locations on the floor to stand if youre waiting in line and everyone recognize everyone elses space, so it is polite,ryone is being and the one thing i have noticed about the pandemic is that people are a lot more courteous towards each other, as far as the distance and Everything Else. , do it because i really dont i am not in a health group that is in danger. Keep mye mask on and distance so that other people that might be more worried about it are more comfortable. You mentioned you dont think you necessarily need government telling you what to do. Federalyour take on government aid, the Paycheck Protection Program in place and other forms of government aid for Small Businesses. Is it helpful . What is your take on what role is . Ns caller that is a good question. I am a 20 year veteran that just retired last year, so now i am getting back into the workforce again. I talked to a lot of Business Owners, because a lot of them teaching the classes because they are trying to get workers, they areed them, having a problem getting workers, and i ask a lot of retail managers when i am in i aming, gas stations, if in there, i asked them the same because that our help wanted signs everywhere. The one consistent statement that they say is we have workers, and when they begin getting the extra 600 a month on top of their unemployment, and this is texas, they do not want to come back to work until they have to. Host thank you. Kentucky, what kind of work do you do . Caller electronic technician. Host how is business these days . Caller there is none. I want to talk about mr. Mcconnell because he has really tried to get the stimulus plan, but the democrats wants to support like california, new other states out where they are wasting the money, and i can understand what mcconnell has done, and it should be for the people and not for the state. What would federalaid mean for your business . I think it would boost us. Ifwould really believe everybody would come together and vote on this package, but mcconnell has got a plan, and there is no support, and the democrats spike everything that the republicans want to put out. Caller even though our town has only 5000 people, getting ready year,ents happening next when everybody has been vaccinated, maybe not everybody, but the vast majority, what bothers me, what concerns me is something i have never asked for from anybody else and i am a little bit disturbed that even though, people who have started these funds are extremely generous and kind spirited, it is the Charity Model for helping until oldbusinesses Mitch Mcconnell and nancy pelosi come together on agreements to ,ssist the Small Business had e has already these were started out, kickstarter and so forth back in 2008 to a cyst to assist us, and i am more than grateful for these, but i feel as though over one million groups, colleges and universities, research charities, all of them are just grabbing at me, shouting give me. I know that is not the case, but these which are designed, like small works i have forgotten the name, a tv commercial where they ask you to donate, and some of these funds for small gofundme, theye are not as frivolous as some of those that we had in the past decade. Generalists generously so i can go to the larry fromis california. How would you describe the state of Small Business . Caller everything looks really slow. I think the people need a stimulus, but i wanted to comment on when they say help bail out the states, i am from california, born and raised. A lot of people are here not ,rom california, but california when donald trump did not have a National Plan for this virus, which we knew was coming. I have worked for the government , and everybody knew it was coming sooner or later. Donaldelosi got with trump and said testing and treatment in isolation, give the people that money, stay home and tell the people to wear a mask, all of the above, and he did not. He did not want to do anything. Hurtingfornia, we are but we do everything. Our amusement parks are down, we do not have baseball, football, we cannot go to any sports. It is like a prison. Lockdown host let me ask you a question, you mentioned all the things that are closed, those bigger enterprises, how about the Small Businesses . You said things are slow. I things closed . What do you see when you go out . Palms, in twentynine people do not want to go into little restaurants and eat. There are only a couple set up oncede to eat, and we go in a while. Mostly everything is the get and go. All of the little stores, people do not want to go in the stores. The ventilation is bad. Everything is old here. Everybody is scared. Host thank you for calling. Hearing your stories this morning about the state of Small Business. We want to hear from you, if you are a shopper or a Small Business owner or an employee. Saidis a text sent in by a i run my own Small Business and i know people who ran Small Businesses in my city of philadelphia. They are all gone. No one, politician created politician created this virus, but we will never forget. This is samuel from philadelphia. At the same time we know that Small Business saturday follows black friday in the wall street journal headline says that shoppers and discounts are scant. They showed some photos. Not looking terribly busy, at least at the time they took the photo. Here is a line at game stop store in pennsylvania, before the Early Morning opening, stocking up at the glendale galleria, but they point out the pandemic has reshaped the shopping season with many retail chains holding the line on discounts because they are sitting on lead inventory. Back to the Small Business discussion. Egina from kentucky. Caller i am calling as a customer. I relocated, and i just find it tragic, what has happening with Small Businesses because that is what i do, i prefer to be a patron of, Small Businesss pit i come from the hospitality world, and it has been kicked speak, and a lot of these businesses are not coming back at all. I would like to piggyback on what someone said about the people not wanting to go back to work because of the stimulus. The Service Workers are underpaid. Many are underpaid, and if anything this pandemic has shown getting an appointment, you make more money than going to work, and that mean something is really wrong with the system. , but the heartbreaking pandemic is real. I have lost relatives. Theve loved ones in hospital right now on ventilators. We do need to take it seriously. I wish washington would get it together. It hurts seeing the Small Businesses, no matter what, they are not coming back. The only ones i know staying afloat including like restaurants are people who had wealth in the beginning. Host thank you. Small business closures during the pandemic, fortunate rights ace on some Research Done by , they write that on the onset of the pandemic, 140,000 business were marked temporally closed on yelp, but by august that number had fallen to 65,000. That drop is not even by reopening. Many have simply gone under. More than 97,000 businesses firmly shut down during the thismic according to impact report. Vick is calling from florida. Caller i see where mcconnell is putting out more propaganda that he cannot get anything past because his colleagues will not support any more than 500 billion where as close he came down from 3. 4 billion to 2. 1 billion. [standby] what part of the state is windemere . Caller i live outside orlando. Unemployment, there is a lot of people that do not have food, we have run out of food, so the food banks are running out of food. People are being impacted, and mitch is sitting up there, when it came time to pass the tax cut for the top 1 and a tax cut for the corporations, he can get that through really easily. Host what would a stimulus bill mean to windemere . Caller should not be voting republican, that is my comment. Thank you. From virginia. On tell us your situation, what kind of business you have. Caller business has never been better. We are setting new sales records all the time, and i am a Small Business guy, in business for about 20 years. Unlike what they said a while ago, i had no money. My father was a truck driver. I got lucky and got into a business. We work it hard, and my son helps me. The only problems i see are the businesses that the government will not let reopen. I went out to eat twice this week, restaurants are busy. I do not know of anyone with covid. Know of anyone who knows anyone with covid. Host what kind of business are you in . Caller automotive repair. Things are going great. We are setting records all the time. For give any kind of need a federal stimulus . Caller we got the stimulus. We didnt need it. But it was free money, so we took it. Host what did you do with the money . Caller it is still sitting in the bank. I am waiting to see how i got to pay it back. The government, they have changed it a few times already. First it was free, and they will not let us even pay on it at this point, so who knows how that will work out, but a lot of people do not need the money. There are people out there that do need money because the government is holding them down. Mitch mcconnell is right, they. O not need 3 trillion you just do not need it. If they would target the money and put it where it needs to be, it would be great. As far as hiring people, i got people coming in and applying for jobs all the time that work a day or two and then go file for an employment. One guy said he shot himself and could not come back and try to draw unemployment. Another guy, they just leave and do not show up and then they try to draw unemployment. That is crazy. 600 extra unemployment a week is crazy. Host we mentioned the Paycheck Protection Program earlier. The Small Business administration, some details on the program, it provided over 600 billion in federal aid. More than five. 2 million loans approved and originated by over five thousand lenders nationwide. It provided grants and loans to businesses with fewer than ive hundred employees. Each loan capped at 10 million and fully forgiven if funds used for at least 75 of payroll, interest on mortgages and utilities, selfemployed and contract workers were also eligible. A snapshot of that program. We have tommy on the line from virginia. This is a town with a lot of Small Businesses, convenience stores, laundromats, and they seem to be doing well. Town, for a while this against like some of the large businesses, coming in, so most of them are mom and pop stores could i do not see too much of a problem. I agree with the previous caller. Are a lot of new cars in my community. Hasonly thing is the covid spiked. I disagree with him on that. I am not sure where people are being hurt. Ive seen construction in this area. I did receive the stimulus, and i have it in the bank. I do not spend it. Sure ifpoint, i am not the communities need more consumer, at i am a patron, and i do not see where we are hurting. Thank you for taking my call. Host this is jeff from chicago. Generally Small Businesses suffer under capital, almost no line of credit, improper insurance coverage, little accounting systems, failure to have legal representation, no knowledge of computers and another fewer texts, i am retired, but my kids moved in after they lost their jobs. What happened to our country . Stop the congress from getting paid. Scott fromm tom and washington writes democrats interfered with businesses, thanks to pelosi, ha ha. The New York Times business section, a few long lines, black friday traditions, deals and earlybird trips to the malls were subdued as the public shopped online. These are pictures from one of the malls in california. That is in the New York Times. Washington post this morning, lighter crowds as traffic moves online. Here is a couple of shoppers at a target store in virginia. Just sort of the Bigger Picture there on the economy. What we have been talking about with Small Businesses, some say they have been hurting quite a bit. In york times reports that amazon is hiring at a record. Lip that is one of the largest in the world, and in the wall street journal they tell us inzon is paying 500 million holiday bonuses. From indiana, a Small Business owner. I have an electric ill heating and air business and i also have a wedding venue. The heating and air business is doing ok. A lot of people have to get financed because no one has much savings, at least in my area. As for the wedding venue, i shut it down. Im not getting any revenue from it. That kind of stinks because i just started it and spent about 30,000 in it and not able to get anything back. Besides that, i would say that my Small Business, one is doing good and one is doing bad. Wedding are close the business or just put it on pause . To see ifst waiting this vaccination takes place next year so it is on pause. Host did you take any of the federal money this year . Caller every bit of it and that is the only way i have not had to take from my electrical business. I just paid the loan off that i had on the wedding venue and now i have a loan with the Small Business association. I am a Sole Proprietor so it is all just me, but it helped out tremendously. I do not have any worries because i have money in my savings now. I have to pay it back, but i got a cheaper Interest Rate on that then i do my student loans. T would you take mont more money if it were available . Caller i do not need it. I would not take anymore. I have enough. Governmentk that the , everybody says they need to put it here or there. I do not know why the government is not come up with some kind of algorithm that knows. The government cannot seem to get it right. Sometimes i wonder why, but certain people need it and certain people dont. I would say target restaurants and people who are waitresses, cooks, things like that, that would probably help. Host this is deborah from mississippi. Consumer, so i can only speak from that perspective. I do not own or operate a business. I am terrified to go into a restaurant, having been have not been in one in since march i am afraid to go to the doctor or the auto mechanic. I am afraid to go inside in the business because of covid. As for the gentleman that took the stimulus money that he did not need, he is no different than the one free money is free money, but that money is needed. Deborah, doctor visits a, those are very import