Nancy Edmonds Hanson
nancy.edmonds.hanson@gmail.com

Sheri Larson is in closer touch than ever with Moorhead business owners, right from her own kitchen table. The executive director of the Moorhead Business Association has been reaching out to the city’s businesses – both members and otherwise – to help them find their way through the blizzard of questions stirred up by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many, she says, haven’t had time to look into the complex web of relief programs hammered together by Minnesota and the federal government. “They’re concentrating on getting through day by day,” she says. “But now is the time to get involved in what is out there. That’s how they’ll be ready to go when all this is over.
“All this” – precautions to slow the epidemic have drastically changed the landscape for almost every business. Hospitality has perhaps been hit hardest of all with the ban on in-house food and beverage service, but countless others are also affected, from hair salons and fitness studios to counseling practices, specialty retail (everything from crafts to drums), auto and boat dealerships and real estate agencies. Whether their doors are closed or their traffic trimmed, they’re facing challenges few imagined as recently as February.
“I don’t have the answers,” the MBA executive says, “but I can tell them where to find them.”
Armed with computer and smartphone, Sheri divides her day into two parts: Scanning the web for announcements and the most current updates on resources created by bipartisan action in Washington and St. Paul, then making contact with business owners who are sometimes baffled by the complexities of fighting their way to the promised relief.
The two programs she most often hears about are expansion of unemployment assistance and eligibility and the Paycheck Protection Program, both elements of CARES, the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act fashioned by the U.S. House and passed unanimously by the Senate.
Very small businesses and independent contractors may now qualify for unemployment insurance under rules amended to accommodate those impacted by the pandemic. “I urge them to see whether they’re now eligible,” she says. “Despite the news coverage, some people don’t realize this is out there for them.” The place to start, she says, is the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance website, www.mnui.org. Applications are accepted online.
The Paycheck Protection Program was created to help businesses pay their employees and keep them employed. Administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, its $349 billion has drawn overwhelming interest among hard-strapped companies; Congress is already considering a second round of funding.
“The best advice I can give is to go see your lender,” Sheri emphasized. “And do it now.”
When she began talking with local business owners a month ago, she generally heard wary confidence.“They were saying, ‘We’re going to be OK,’” she recalls. “Now it’s more like ‘We need some help.’”
She lauds the spirit she’s seeing around the city as small businesses adjust to the new reality. The MBA maintains a list of 40-some Moorhead food and drink establishments that have maintained at least a portion of their businesses with carry-out and delivery orders, from restaurants like Thai Orchid, Buffalo Wild Wings and Newroz Kebabs to 99 Bottles and Legends Sports Bar and Grill. Supermarkets and hardware stores, too, are implementing delivery or curbside pickup. Some counselors and even yoga teachers are connecting with clients on the phone or digital video apps.
“Some were ready almost right away, but others have had to adapt quick,” she notes. “As I’ve been checking in, I’m surprised how many businesses don’t even have answering machines. Restaurants need to get those menus online! They need to get the word out, to let people know they’re still here.”
The MBA has been offering some assistance with establishing or escalating an online presence on social media. The organization has also begun hosting speakers via online video. On Wednesday, for example, Deb McGregor of the West Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center talked about how to ramp up visibility through innovative practices like virtual tours, Facebook updates and email campaigns.
“This is not the time to hide,” Sheri emphasizes. “It’s the time to shine. When this madness is over, who will your customers remember? If you’ve kept on promoting your business all along, they will remember you.”