Utah small-business owners join call for long-term pandemic relief

Earlier this month, 56 small-business owners from across Utah joined 2,000 of their peers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia in calling on Congress to pass additional federal pandemic relief to keep America’s Main Streets strong. Dubbed Virtual Hill Day, the effort is an initiative of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices, which gives the Goldman Sachs’ program alumni from across the country a platform to advocate for policy changes that will help keep their businesses, employees and communities vibrant by offering them the tools, resources and training needed to make their voices heard, the organization said.

“Utah small businesses continue to struggle as the pandemic ravages Main streets. For many small-business owners, the pandemic upended our business models and forced us to making difficult decisions, including reducing staff, shelving plans to grow, taking on debt to cover expenses and forgoing our own pay as we watch our revenue evaporate,” said Nicole Thomas, owner of LatterDayBride in Salt Lake City, and Casey Metzger, owner of Top Shelf Utah in Park City. “Our message to Congress … is that while we appreciate the assistance passed [recently], the state of small business is still dire and, without additional assistance, the American people and American workers will suffer further economic devastation.”

As part of the virtual advocacy day, the Utah small business owners held video meetings with Utah’s congressional delegation.

Policies that Utah small-business owners advocated for as they met with elected officials included lowering healthcare costs for small businesses, protecting small businesses from potential COVID-related litigation, increasing access to affordable child care and incentivizing large businesses to use more small businesses as vendors. Also on the wish list were simplifying government request for proposal process for small businesses and offsetting post-pandemic re-opening costs.