Unfairly forcing law abiders to further face closing their businesses is not the way to go
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anthony Smith, NFIB Oregon State Director, [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
SALEM, Ore., Nov. 13, 2020—From Anthony Smith, Oregon state director for NFIB, the state’s largest small-business association.
“It’s frustrating that while the governor and state agencies have identified informal social gatherings as the primary driver of recent COVID-19 case increases in Oregon, these new restrictions are again targeting businesses.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, the overwhelming majority of businesses have done everything asked of them in order to keep their employees and customers safe, which is why ‘workplace outbreaks’ at businesses that were previously required to shut down account for a very low number of the state’s total positive cases.
“It simply doesn’t make any sense to impose further restrictions on businesses that provide safer, regulated spaces for Oregonians to engage in economic and social activities in masked and socially distanced atmospheres.
“This approach will only prompt more Oregonians to seek out the same informal social gatherings that are driving the recent spread of the virus.
“One in five NFIB members are telling us that they will only be able to continue operating for a maximum of six months under current economic conditions. Another 19% are saying 12 months. In total, that’s nearly 40% of small businesses that are looking at a permanent closure within the year. If economic conditions worsen, the timeline will likely shorten.”
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
