Cast adrift: COVID aid still skimpy for Washington hospitality businesses like mine
These past 10 months have been unlike any struggle we could have imagined at 7 Seas Brewing, even in our worst nightmares.
This is saying something coming from the co-owner of a family-owned independent business that burned down in 2009, weeks before opening.
I can assure you that along with my fellow Washington independent brewers, restaurateurs and bar owners, we are some of the hardest working, most resilient, creative people you will ever meet. Yet, it is incredibly difficult to find hope at this point in time.
I see quality individuals and businesses so desperate, they are openly defying state mandates and in doing so, eroding the belief that these mandates will have any effect.
The banks, Small Business Administration, landlords and government entities are all collecting their money, seemingly insulated from the impacts that small businesses are facing. Meanwhile, loan deferrals are paid for by the businesses, as loans continue to incur interest.
The original federal Paycheck Protection Program fell short, and those who used the loans as the PPP was intended did so in the program’s first eight weeks.
While I’m grateful that Congress finally acted at the end of the year to provide more relief to small businesses, the PPP is flawed and at this time applications aren’t even being accepted, with days dragging into weeks.
Those businesses and employers willing to power through these unprecedented times and personally guarantee debt, as my business partner and I have done, can’t access a loan.
Washington’s small craft brewers, restaurateurs, bar owners and their employees need the support of all levels of government — and quickly.
Congress and state legislators must put together additional economic relief packages for the struggling hospitality and brewing industries and reject any measures that would cause further economic harm.
There has to be real and proportional financial assistance to individuals and businesses truly affected by the government’s mandates. Not all businesses have been impacted to the same degree; the hospitality industry has been hit harder.
My business has paid premiums to hedge against “what if” scenarios; we’ve always had business Interruption and spoilage coverage as part of our insurance policy.
Yet our claims during COVID-19 have been denied. Insurers interpreted the policies to their favor and denied claims under a virus exclusion.
Denying these claims goes against the very intent of the coverage. Businesses were mandated by the state to close and be restricted; there was no choice in the matter.
Our community isn’t the same without the local independent businesses we all love. As we do everything we can to keep the doors open, we need more than the support of our loyal customers.
We need our elected officials and government to step up and support those whose livelihoods have been restricted.
As President-Elect Joe Biden said before Christmas, the “darkest days” of this pandemic are still ahead. The full impacts from COVID-19 and the shutdowns are still to be felt.
Mike Runion of Gig Harbor is co-founder of 7 Seas Brewing along with fellow Puget Sound native Travis Guterson. The brewery has locations in downtown Gig Harbor and Tacoma. For more information go online to www.7seasbrewing.com.