The deadline for small business owners and chambers of commerce to sign onto a nationwide letter to Congressional leaders in support of a bipartisan approach to small business recovery from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic crisis has been extended to Thursday, September 3, at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).
Signatories can join the cause online via Help Small Businesses Now or in writing via e-mail at smallbusiness@emesproject.com.
On August 26, Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ECCI) President and CEO John R. Quigley joined more than 100 small and large business CEOs and fellow Chamber executives across the United States by signing the letter, which does not advocate for any specific piece of legislation. Rather, the letter advocates for several key bipartisan principles in saving small businesses.
Originally written by Starbucks Corp. Chairman Emeritus Howard Schultz in early August, the letter was co-signed by the leaders of many of America’s largest companies, including Walmart, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Starbucks, Merck, Costco, Disney and many more. The presidents of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable also signed.
With U.S. Congress still at an impasse over a fifth piece of recovery legislation, the original signatories began working with the Small Business Recovery Initiative and other small business organizations to collect another round of signatories from small business owners and chamber of commerce leaders before resending to Congressional leaders.
Many of our country’s small businesses are in peril because of COVID-19, with the number of active business owners in the U.S. plummeting by 3.3 million, or 22 percent, from February to April. Today, only 16 percent of small businesses are very confident they will be able to maintain payroll if no further government relief is provided.
“For those of us who believe in the power of capitalism to help all Americans, this is a vital moment to stand up for that belief by showing support for the small businesses that form the fabric of every community in our nation,” stated Schultz.