ICYMI: PENNSYLVANIA CAPITAL-STAR: PEOPLE ‘FEEL LIKE LIFE IS WORTH LIVING AGAIN’ AS PA. BIZ OWNERS SEE RESULTS FROM BIDEN’S PANDEMIC RESPONSE

PENNSYLVANIA — 100 days into the Biden presidency, local business owners are seeing signs of progress brought on by the new administration, and feeling hope again. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, Lehigh Valley business owners have been able to keep their businesses afloat through the Paycheck Protection Program, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported. The business owners attribute their growing hope to Biden’s successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a major uptick in business as more and more Pennsylvanians have money in their pockets and feel comfortable going out again.

From the Pennsylvania Capital-Star: People ‘feel like life is worth living again’: Pa. biz owners look to promises, challenges post-pandemic

Last spring, as the nation went into lockdown and scores of businesses closed their doors, Jim Johnson found himself asking the same questions as many of his fellow entrepreneurs: Would his business survive an economic meltdown and a public health crisis with no known end? And if it did, what would life look like on the other side?

“I told my wife, who is my partner, I don’t think we’re going to make it,” he said. “It was scary for us.”

A year later, Johnson, who runs the Kula Children’s Center in Allentown, has his answer: He’s gone from two locations to one. And a client base that once numbered more than 100 children dipped to a pandemic low of about 20. Now, he says, he’s built back to 58 children. And while he laments the loss of one location, he’s still grateful to be in business.

“We took a hit, but because of [Paycheck Protection Program] funding, we were allowed to stay in business, and now we’re growing again,” Johnson said during a Tuesday conference call organized by Pennsylvania Democrats reflecting on President Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office.

During the pandemic, Johnson said he was getting calls from anxious parents asking about how he was dealing with the virus. Now, “people are calling asking about our programs, which is telling me that they’re relaxed more and they’re happy because they can go back to work. They’re feeling like life is worth living again.”

Read the piece: here

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