Bret Schanzenbach
President & CEO
Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce
Early in the day on March 12, 2020 the most anticipated March Madness in San Diego history became March Sadness as the Coronavirus made its biggest splash into our local scene (up to that point). In the immediate days that followed, it became clear that missing out on the Aztecs potential run into college basketballs’ long storied history of epic Cinderella tales was the least of our worries. Locally the Covid-19 narrative became like a terribly slow-moving horror story script where you just kept waiting for the evil dude with the chain saw to jump out from around the corner and attack….but we just seem to keep waiting (that’s good news by the way, not complaining). Whether or not the Coronavirus grim reaper fully arrives or not, his effect has already become dire. I write this column on day 8 of the Coronavirus Hostage Crisis here in San Diego. And the Corona Reaper’s effects on business have been staggering. Carlsbad is home to over 40 hotels; a tremendous number of excellent restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, and other eateries; multiple high-quality shopping malls and outlets; and some excellent boutique retail stores. The devastation reminds me of Smaug the Terrible (dragon) and his utter obliteration of Lake Town in the movie The Hobbit.
All of that being said, I am an eternal optimist. And there is much reason for hope. And hope is coming in many different forms. Usually I am suspect when the someone shows up and says, “Hi, I’m from the government, and I am here to help”. But in this case, it is needed and welcomed. As I write this, the $2 Trillion Stimulus Bill is being finalized by the federal government and signed into law. This bill will provide direct payments to individuals, suspend student loan payments, massively boost unemployment benefits and provide a $500 billion lending program for business (details on how to tap into this will be forth coming, watch for our upcoming enewsletters for tips). This is on top of the SBA loan program that classifies the Coronavirus Reaper as a federal disaster, thus opening up disaster loan programs to businesses (this is a program that traditionally farmers experiencing draughts have had access to, but not many main street businesses). Our local SBDC has already tackled the “how-to’s” of applying for that loan, we can direct you on how to participate with them (or guide you on how to apply directly on your own, if you like). By the time this goes to print we will have already held two online webinars on applying for those SBA disaster loan programs.
The state is also helping. So far, their help is in policy, not stimulus (but things are changing rapidly). Governor Newsom has secured agreements from the big lending institutions (Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo and nearly 200 state-chartered banks and credit unions) to get a 90-day grace period for mortgage payments if you’ve been adversely financially affected by COVID-19. Here at the Chamber we are part of a coalition that is asking the Governor to put a state-wide eviction moratorium in place for residential and commercial tenants (hope to hear positive news on that before rent/lease payments are due on April 1).
The City Council for the City of Carlsbad this week decided to create an Ad Hoc Committee to study creating a local economic stability program. By the time this goes to press, we will be a few days from the next City Council Meeting, where that program will possibly be decided upon (April 7), so stay tuned. The Chamber will bring you any details that are forth coming.
There are also tax relief measures at multiple levels, insurance advocacy going on, and much, much more than I can describe in one column. We have an excellent COVID resource webpage that is keeping everything in one spot for you: carlsbad.org/community/covid-19.
Please let us know how we can assist in these trying times. I believe we will emerge stronger from this as a community. I pray the Corona Hostage Crisis is not as drawn out as many fear it might be and that we will all be talking about this in the past tense soon. Until then, stay socially distant and stay healthy! #CarlsbadBusinessStrong