Around one in three small businesses in Connecticut has closed since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, according to the Wall Street Journal. That is a higher portion than the U.S. as a whole and nearby states including New York and New Jersey, where about a quarter of businesses have closed over the last several months.
Restaurants are among the hardest hit. More than 600 in Connecticut have closed permanently or temporarily during the pandemic. They are currently limited to 50 percent of indoor capacity.
Andrew Markowski, Connecticut state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said the state’s small businesses “need something to get them through to that new normal, whatever and whenever that may be.” A new round of the Paycheck Protection Program was included in the federal aid package agreed to by congressional leaders Sunday.
Nearly 20,000 businesses applied for a $50 million small business program created by the state this year, but the program is no longer accepting applications. David Lehman, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, said the state was considering more financial assistance programs for 2021. [WSJ] — Dennis Lynch