The Legislature needs to embrace and supplement congressional initiatives
SALEM, Ore., Dec. 15, 2020—From Anthony Smith, Oregon state director for NFIB, which released the latest poll of its small-business-owning membership today.
“Unfortunately, our worries have become reality as COVID-19 case counts increased significantly in recent weeks, prompting states like Oregon to further restrict business operations. In late October, an alarming one in five small business owners were telling us that they would have to close their doors if economic conditions did not improve within six months. For too many small businesses, conditions are the same, or even worse, and that figure has now increased to 25%, with an additional 22% reporting that they won’t last 12 months.
“We need to do everything we can to buy our small businesses a little more time. We need Congress to act – and we need the Oregon Legislature to embrace and supplement that work with additional support for struggling businesses, especially those that have experienced financial losses, due in large part to government-imposed restrictions on their business activities.”
From Holly Wade, executive director of NFIB’s Research Center
“Many small businesses are facing additional challenges right now related to weather conditions and renewed business restrictions across the country. The next few months might prove to be the most difficult time for small businesses since the initial shutdown last spring. It is crucial that Congress provides financial relief for small businesses as we head into the winter months.”
Key findings from the survey include:
- The majority of Paycheck Protection Program borrowers (91%) have spent their entire PPP loan.
- Significantly more borrowers have submitted their PPP loan forgiveness application over the last month – 44% of owners have submitted one, up from 26% last month.
- Almost half of small business owners who have submitted a PPP loan forgiveness application have received final confirmation from the SBA and over three-fourths of them had 100% of their loan forgiven.
More from NFIB’s national news release available here.
Contact: Anthony Smith, NFIB Oregon State Director, [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
Keep up with the latest Oregon small-business news at www.nfib.com/oregon and follow us on Twitter at @NFIB_OR
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For more than 77 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
National Federation of Independent Business/Oregon
3340 Commercial St. S.E. Suite 210
Salem, OR 97302
503-364-4450
www.nfib.com/oregon
Twitter NFIB_OR
