07.20.20 COVID-19 Briefing Live Stream Transcript

The County of Santa Clara
July 20, 2020
Live Stream - Briefing Live stream
10:00am PT

Larry Little: Hey everybody thank you for joining us I’m Larry Little Public Information Officer here at the county's emergency operations center and this morning I’m joined by Mimi Hernandez with the latina latinx business circle and in just a few moments we will discuss the impacts that COVID-19 has had on small businesses available resources and how you can help as a consumer but first I want to let you know that safety is a priority for us here at the emergency operations center and prior to this broadcast we did remove our facial coverings but we'll be sure to put them back on for the rest of the day thank you for being here uh you know when I first moved to uh I lived in Dallas for many years in Texas and a lot of franchises there but when I moved here I fell in love with this place because there were so many small businesses from restaurants to dry cleaners here reminded me of when I was a kid growing up in Arkansas but those places are really being impacted uh now tell me about your organization first and your experience with working with businesses here in Santa Clara county.

Mimi M. Hernandez: Um sure and thank you for having us today as he mentioned we did start with our mask and we are removing them and we'll be returning them back uh to the place uh where they need to be at uh for us latin latinx business circle is a collective of business advisors uh industry experts and business trainers uh who are we're housed at the prosperity lab a nonprofit 501c3 for the last year we have facilitated over 60 free workshops which became webinars most recently we have provided individual assistance to business owners we were also doing some relief assistance helping people complete applications and businesses complete applications for the PPP loans and other funds that are available made available to them we're also uh having topics around COVID compliance hr compliance wage dev marketing branding capital strategies is a popular as well some business tax preparation and some lean canvas remodeling of businesses at this point.

LL: So, COVID-19 has been devastating to a lot of small businesses from the salons to uh fitness centers to even the self-employed for people who work for you know some of the ride share companies like Uber and Lyft what are you hearing from entrepreneurs right now?

MMH: What we are hearing is a real concern about the uncertainty you know the openings uh reopenings closing that's what has been at the roost the root of most of the anxiety that is out there the economic losses for the family owned businesses in general, is is very widespread and of course you know Latino and African American communities and Employers have been affected in a rate that is disproportionate to the rest of the communities it's difficult for a lot of our businesses to develop a strategy or a long-term plan if they are uncertain about when they will be able to open or if they will be having to close down again so it certainly is more around uncertainty of opening and closing dates.

 LL: So, what what's your advice to a small business owner just trying to stay afloat right now and maybe um you know they've been closed for three or four months.

MMH: So, at this point one of the things that we are really trying to focus our businesses on is operational deficiencies you know really looking at how you are operating your business what what is it costing you and getting that and really moving towards can you imagine your business doing things different you know getting out of your comfort zone you know our restaurants were a very good example of that you know really changing their menu to make it more of a to-go having to reinvent how they do the outside dining lucky for us this is warm weather right now but in the winter I imagine we're going to have two things do different things but the number one thing is reimagine and really look at how you have your business structured is this a a good opportunity for you to say do we need to rent 10 000 square feet you know could we reduce it you know because some of our folks work from home and how do we keep our work uh our workers safe it's another thing that I really want to challenge employees to think about we're so used to doing things in a certain way this is we're going to have to get out of that and really really think about how to be keep the doors open how do we operate with the lower overhead and how do we reengage and have meaningful conversations and touch points with our customers.

LL: So, I was reading this article here in The Detroit free press and you know it talked about uh you know a lot of the uh small businesses getting loans and uh you can see that article there it says only one listed as a black owned that's a whole other show we won't cover that today but what it talks about is a lot of people did not identify as being a minority owned business because they thought that would affect them getting a loan but there's a stigma tied to getting loans within minority communities just kind of talk about that people are afraid I read in this article that there was one family from India and the son said my dad my parents always told me you never get a loan to fix a bad situation just talk about that.

MMH: I mean I can tell you especially coming from an immigrant community and you know and Santa Clara county is composed with a lot of immigrants that have come here with  nothing and have built have built quite a bit of businesses and success and have been able to create jobs and I can tell you that's how my father came here and my father didn't get his first credit card until he was 45 years old and was ready to buy a house he said you never borrow from the future and there was also the stigma for it for some of the people in our  community around asking for help when you know we don't want to be taken as a community that is here to to get a handout or for us minorities to be told to be perceived as oh we need that extra help or we're trying to get that extra upper hand because we're people of color and I think you know we don't have time for that right now you know we all need to survive it isn't just about you it's about the employees that depend on you and being able to work with you and these are very extraordinary times but on the same hand I’ve had business owners who did not qualify for any assistance you know the east side largely is a cash economy so trying to record losses for cash transactions was very  challenging there were business owners who have been paying tax revenues for decades and did not receive a cent of assistance um so you know they said the same can be said but there is a stigma in our communities about not asking for assistance or not asking for a loan.

LL: Just from that that last response is it more difficult for uh small businesses that are cash only when it comes to things like this uh because I know a lot of times the records may have not been kept they have a hard time tracing things so it makes it difficult when you need assistance.   assistance program a few months a few years ago maybe about four or five years ago and that was one of the big challenges we had to help the businesses first create a record base of what the sales had been coming in and out and their expenditure  before they could even begin to apply for relief assistance and you know some of those took a few months to get together so we're running  into the same problem right now that micro enterprises particularly that don't know that they don't know that they're not supposed to be keeping records a certain way are doing so so right now when we're trying to rush to make these deadlines and apply for PPP for them it becomes very challenging

LL: So, a lot of Businesses don't know what assistance is available to them right now what information are you giving business small businesses and self-employed people.

MMH: So, what when people are coming into our center or calling our phone line or even just tagging us on social media asking us for assistance the first thing we do we do an analysis about where they're at and how they keep uh records what the real what the losses have been and then we try to either help them apply for the SBA loans there's a number of different things to assist we always want to make sure that they  truly understand what the guidelines are going to be for that loan so that they don't get into  another pickle with that there's other alternative sources of funding for example working solutions opportunity fund kiba but one of our main sources is that we always go to the business owners space group that the city of San Jose hosts where we have over 25 partners you know from score to

SBDC and new America capital venture partners that have those resources and include  the technical assistance that is required because merely pointing to a resource is not enough we do need to  take a hands-on approach and we need to make sure the businesses understand how to apply and receive the assistance to do so.

LL: let's just keep it real sometimes when you're working with small businesses do you have to deliver bad news saying that there's no help for you.

MMH: Yes and it's it's heartbreaking I have been in this industry for about eight years you know and I think this was the first time that um that we as a team of you know business uh circle of advisors that we had to sit down and have these conversations about having to help business owners close what is the correct process talking to them about bankruptcy um and then um you know that was that was new to us we've never really had to engage with a lot of that it was it was usually the exception not the rule  and and those conversations are taking place and we will have to start facilitating those kinds of webinars and those kinds of assistances.

LL: Wow amazing if people are interested in finding more information about resources available of course you can go to our website at sccgov.org forward slash coronavirus and go to the operate my business safely tab under how do I and plenty of information here  also for employees as well and you have the information there about assistance and resources now just know this because someone left us a very nasty comment last week because they contacted somebody on this list and that this company this uh organization did not get back with them what we just provide the resources and the information uh we don't uh actually handle the process uh so what role can consumers play uh in supporting small businesses for example you know it starts with as simple as wearing a a mask into the business you know some people that i've seen you've seen the videos of course too where people give someone uh such a hard time just about wearing a mask but the business is only following the rules of their jurisdiction so what can consumers do to help small businesses during this period.

MMH: So I always say for first and foremost if you're in a position to still be able to go dining or buy or engage in business with some of the small family-owned businesses and the micro enterprises please do so you know buy gift certificates um you know use their curbside services um post a positive review about your experience with them and you know wear a mask I mean that's I think that's one of the most significant things we can do wear a mask every day uh that's gonna help us all to get um the curve going back down and hopefully um have us go back to some sense of normalcy so that the businesses can stay open and can get through this also I would say if if you're in the position to do policy or come up with programs financial support low interest loans for some of the small businesses rent forgiveness because a lot of them not only have to make a mortgage or rent house they also have to pay the the rent or the mortgage in the building that they have their business in so if if you have if you like I said again if you are in a position to influence any of those three things please do so.

LL: That's one of the first things you know when I I was uh on vacation and came back uh when the shelter in place started and all the shelves were empty at all of the stores that I normally go to but it was interesting when I went to some of the uh small corner stores in my neighborhood their shelves were full so I think we should buy everything off the shelves of the small businesses in our neighborhoods first and then go  to the larger businesses because a lot of times they have more financial stability in the larger businesses because they're they fall under an uh corporate umbrella and especially you know my friends in Gilroy and Morgan Hill we especially want to shop those small businesses you know keep them afloat and I know it's a tough time now for salons and different other businesses but please don't go to Santa Cruz County just hold on for a little bit we're working on it to get those businesses open because it's really important that we shop our small businesses especially in south county uh so a lot of businesses have gone into debt trying to just prepare for social distancing you know the protocols um  what's your advice to them because they must follow the state and local directives. You know I I don't think I’ve had a problem with any of the businesses that we work with that are not willing to to do the the compliance I think that most of the rules are pretty straightforward  um some of the businesses that are housed in in you know with less square footage of course are gonna have challenges with that um but I think there's definitely a good will to do it but they do sometimes are going to need some help with some of the um the specific guidelines when you get to industries like a small retail store that only has you know 200 square feet you know they're already struggling with ADA compliance and then you're gonna then you're adding the COVID compliance. but I think uh for us you know where we do uh workshops around that and we're trying to make them industry specific and some industries are easier than others.

LL: So, it's so much uncertainty right now are you seeing much optimism from small business owners.

MMH: There's a few there's a few that have been surprisingly with things that have happened to them some you know our house downtown and again i'll say it's a lot of the immigrant communities where we're seeing that positivity you know the same spirit that drove them here um with nothing to start and they still see the opportunities in you know in the united states and specifically living in silicon valley and you know I have to praise those fellows because there are days that I wake up and I am a little bit challenged but I have to concentrate on what we can do and what we are able to assist our businesses with but there is there is aa light of hope within our businesses  and uh era positivity.

LL: Yeah we will get through this we're going to take a look at our data dashboard you know we  continue to encourage everyone to practice social discipline wear a facial covering and stay at home if you don't need to go out just over the weekend we  had more than 300 confirmed COVID-19 cases you can see here our cumulative number is currently at 7456 no new deaths and certainly our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones due to COVID-19. we're going to switch gears here uh because you had a personal experience with well several with COVID pandemic is real they think we're driving and promoting fear but I want to read this post from social media that one of my friends put from their sister she says so my husband went to help my brother-in-law on his car but plans changed and a few friends and family members came by to visit my brother-in-law's neighbor and my husband's other brother as well so they were having a party now everyone at the party tested positive for COVID husband is not showing signs of sickness but I am still making him get tested his appointment is tomorrow I hope he doesn't have COVID-19 because it could really affect our family so this is out in the community and you've had personal experiences with it could you just share that.
MMH: So, um you know in out in uh in the business community in the east side we've had at least five that's within our business owners that have occurred uh one of them you know of course husband wife and then the other three family members that passed away within a week of each other and for me it makes it very real um my I told you my my first cousins my nephew is an EMT who's transporting the folks who are infected it's very real to us every day the risk that business owners take when they have to open their doors and people are not complying whenever anyone in our business community or in our family passes away for me it just reminds me that this is very real this is not a hoax and I think sometimes it takes knowing Someone or having that constant fear every day that your niece nephew um brother uncle is going to come down with COVID and what if they don't recover my cousin was lucky he's he recovered he's a doctor in Mexico city and he was part of the task force out there and you know he he did come back to work he's still a little affected but we were pretty lucky and hopefully it doesn't have to come down to you having to lose someone close to you or a family member before you realize that this is a very cruel slow disease and this is not the way you want things to go down.

LL: Mimi thank you so much for being here and sharing the information that's going to assist small business small businesses uh get through this as well as sharing the personal story as well uh we're here uh constantly hearing the stories all day uh you know somebody made the comment last week that uh said you you all sometimes you smile a little bit too much when you're talking about this we have to smile because we've been doing we've been at this for uh over uh four months now and we're hearing the stories you know one story was a small business owner is taking he's unemployed he's taking his unemployment check uh to pay the rent at his family salon to keep them open there's another story where uh a salon owner already you know in has a deficit and she has taken her money and invested in making upgrades so she can reopen and trust me we're doing everything uh to uh get the salons open uh you can believe that we've been in contact you know I the governor's office may block us because we are trying to get our businesses back open people are working hard here uh at the county um so thank you so much uh hang in there we'll get through this together you know one thing you know some of my uh greatest moments in life have come after a bad period so if we just get  through these things we'll be better thanks for joining us everybody and have a good day and be safe and look out for yourself but most of all look out for your neighbor.