The owner of several small businesses in Redlands is calling for a bail-out for small businesses impacted by the coronavirus.
Ryan Berk owns the ice cream shop A La Minute, the chocolate store Parliament Chocolate, and the Thai restaurant Aroi Mak Mak in Redlands.
He’s had to close all but the Thai restaurant, which is only offering to-go and call-in orders.
Berk: “I just don't feel comfortable with customers coming in being that close quarters, especially customers and our employees.”
Berk says as a small business owner, he doesn’t have the funds to pay employees through this crisis.
Berk: “We unfortunately don't have the funds to pay our employees through all this so we sort of pushed them towards filing for unemployment and it's just, we just don't know the next step, we're just sort of playing it day-to-day right now.”
Berk is calling for a small business bail-out of some kind to help businesses like his survive the coronavirus pandemic.
Berk: “Our small businesses nationwide are the backbone of this country, and so we'll see what happens next, but that was the only thing I could think of, is really help get our employees back up to date, get themselves paid, and if they're students - most of our employees are students- get themselves paying their loans back and getting food back on the table for them.”
