Steven Gentile had to shut down his amusement park for the entire 2020 season, burning through his emergency fund halfway through the year and taking on over $1 million in debt.
Darden Kirby may have to sell his assisted living facility if business doesn’t improve soon. Dwayne Thomas is postponing his planned retirement by five years to pay off a sixfold increase in debt his events lighting company took on during the pandemic.
These and other small-business owners around the country, including some of those most affected by pandemic-era lockdowns, have seen little financial aid from Washington over the past two years. That’s despite policymakers enacting multiple COVID-19 relief packages totaling over $5 trillion.
