For 30 years, Cleveland screen printing company Nightsweats & T-cells has been turning out merchandise and art to support people living with HIV.
They print t-shirts and other items for events and fundraisers, particularly in the theater industry. Pandemic-driven event cancellations and theater shutdowns have thrown business into uncertainty, Gilbert Kudrin, who runs the operation, told ideastream.
For instance, Nightsweats & T-cells ships goods to New York and around the United States for the nonprofit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, he said.
鈥淲e ship to Broadway shows that are traveling around the country, or have a semi-permanent home in either Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas,鈥� Kudrin said. 鈥淪o when they closed down Broadway, a great deal of our business just ceased to exist.鈥�
As small businesses begin reopening in Ohio and around the country, owners are reaching out for lifelines to make up for months of lost revenue. Local governments are trying to help, rallying private support and spending precious federal coronavirus aid funding to keep local companies alive.
Nightsweats & T-cells sought help from many sources, Kudrin said, applying for the federal Paycheck Protection Program and emergency aid from the City of Cleveland.
Kudrin is still waiting to learn whether Cleveland will send money, but the company received about $2,500 from this month.
鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 helpful,鈥� Kudrin said. 鈥淚t pays the light bills. We have a mortgage. We鈥檙e very fiscally sound, but when you have no income coming in, no work, it鈥檚 hard to be fiscally sound.鈥�
Cuyahoga County has pledged around $6 million to stabilize small businesses, drawing on private funds and CARES Act dollars.
Even as they spend to help businesses, local government leaders want permission from Congress . Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish said he鈥檚 not waiting around to spend his county鈥檚 $215 million coronavirus aid allotment.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not sitting on the money,鈥� Budish said. 鈥淲e got to get it out. People need the help today. They don鈥檛 need it tomorrow, they need it today. And we鈥檝e been operating with a sense of urgency.鈥�
But resources are limited. More than 3,000 businesses applied for financial help from Cuyahoga County. . The county just closed applications for a .
Businesses Gird For Longer-Term Costs
Summit County cobbled together $1.5 million from various sources to help 311 small businesses. For , the county from its $94 million in CARES Act funding.
The county grant gave some breathing room to Leia鈥� Love Hair & Nail Salon in Fairlawn. The salon鈥檚 employees have been laid off and expenses have been eating away at reserves, owner Leia鈥� Love said.
鈥淲e ended up having to go into our emergency fund, which is good, that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 there for,鈥� Love said. 鈥淏ut we quickly depleted that.鈥�
The Summit County grant will help Love pay for rent, utilities and personal protective equipment for her workers, she said.
She鈥檚 planning to reopen the salon June 2 in a very different world from the one she was operating in before. Customers and workers will need their temperatures taken, and they鈥檒l go home if they have fevers, Love said. Plexiglass barriers will protect nail technicians and customers, she said.
鈥淎ll of the protective equipment is a huge expense,鈥� Love said. 鈥淪ome salons that I鈥檝e even talked to, they鈥檙e not going to be able to open because of that.鈥�
Love is trying to stay positive. The past couple of months have been like a 鈥渕onsoon,鈥� she said, but she hopes to come out stronger than before.
Companies may not be out of the storm just yet.
The economy may not fully recover until the public is confident coronavirus has been dealt with, according to Greater Akron Chamber CEO Steve Millard. Businesses have told his organization that it may take until the end of the year to start seeing real improvements, he said.
鈥淯ntil we can give people assurances that they鈥檙e going to be as safe as possible in this environment, you鈥檙e not going to see commerce turn back on,鈥� Millard said. 鈥淪o I think this all goes back to the health side of this.鈥�
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