No question about it: The pandemic did as yet incalculable damage to small businesses across the country. Help is needed now and American Express is giving it with a $100 million investment to jump-start small businesses this summer.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is acting as the Biden administration’s ambassador to small business, recently said that some one-third of small businesses were forced to close for good as a result of the pandemic.
That figure was backed up by a recently released study from National League of Cities which found there are 33.6% fewer small businesses open in April 2021 as compared to January 2020.
However, another study from the Federal Reserve suggests that the damage may not be so great, finding that the death rate was between 9.4% to 10% for the first year of the pandemic.
That would be higher than normal, which typically runs about 7.5% per year, but not all that much. However, the Fed report also warns that more permanent closures may follow if businesses can’t catch up and pay overdue bills.
