On March 17th many business were forced to close or severely cut back their operations due to Executive Order 20-04. March 27th was the original end date, but Executive Order 20-18 extended this until May 1st. Even businesses that are still able to operate to a certain extent are seeing far less traffic and therefore less revenue due to Executive Order 20-20. These executive orders are important for the safety of the community, but put small businesses at risk.

Many landlords are still expecting full payments for rent. Executive Order 20-14 offers no protection to commercial or industrial tenants like it does to residential ones.

This is a problem we would like to see addressed by our local government and we hope that this petition will help bring attention to the issue. Small businesses that help the local economy here in Minnesota are the businesses with no relief at this point and many could face the possibility of closing their doors for good before this situation resolves.

Rent is one of the largest costs for small businesses and without a government mandate for a freeze on rent or relief of some kind, small businesses may not be able to weather this pandemic. The provisions outlined in Executive Order 20-15 could do more harm than good in the long run for any small business that would be forced to apply for a loan. If small businesses take out a loan (even at a lower interest rate) they could still end up closing later down the line as they struggle to repay debt due to the increased, unforeseen operating costs that could not have been accounted for. The loans and possible grants that went through on a federal level are also not applicable for businesses that are not able to operate as they were prior to the executive orders.

Many small businesses operate on slim profit margins and have a hard time maintaining large amounts of cash; taking on a loan, even with deferred payments and low interest rates, will cut into these businesses’ ability to maintain and grow their operations once the worst of the pandemic has passed. Instead of loans with the potential to be only partially forgiven, offering immediate relief is the best way to guarantee the genuine help that small businesses need; Businesses need relief now, not later. Please help us make that the case.