密歇根新闻广播 小企业如何在疫情期间维生

 

As Michigan's stay at home order stretches into its fourth week, many small businesses around the state are working hard to stay afloat. They are having to quickly pivot¹ how they do business while also trying to figure out what kind of loans and grants may be available to help them through the shutdown.

Dann Boyles is the co-owner of a gift shop in Grand Rapids called Rebel. Boyles applied² for a payroll³ protection loan being offered by the federal Small Business Administration. It is meant to be a boost to small businesses and keep employees partially⁴ or fully⁵ paid during COVID-19 shutdowns.

“It’s taken us many years to find a team that was just, looking back, is just perfect. Everybody was just working so well together. And so it’s been important to us to try to support our employees as much as possible while also supporting ourselves. And so this grant money is something that’s available to help us recoup some cost with rent and with that payroll.”

Boyles’ business was placed on a waitlist for the loan, but many other business owners won't even have the chance to apply. On Thursday, the federal agency closed applications for the program because it has already run through the $349 billion allocated⁶ by Congress in the coronavirus economic relief package.

Since there is little certainty about whether the loan will come through or how much they would get, Boyles said the Rebel staff has decided⁷ to funnel⁸ most of their energy into building an online store. Before the coronavirus outbreak hit Michigan, the store didn't have an online sales platform. So when Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a stay at home order, Rebel had to quickly pivot. Within a week and a half, they had a functioning online store where customers could shop.

Boyles said that although Rebel will ultimately lose sales without an open storefront, he's been heartened to see the Grand Rapids community rally around keeping local businesses afloat.

“I’ve just been so happy to see that sense of community remain, and not only remain, but seem as though we are going to come out of this stronger,” Boyles said.

Farther north, in Marquette, the world is just starting to wake up from winter and venture outside. But right now, Bugsy Sailor said, the streets look like a ghost town. Sailor is the founder⁹ of Upper Peninsula Supply Company. It sells U.P.-themed t-shirts, stickers, and other merchandise. In Marquette, Sailor said, most stores rely on a steady flow of tourism in the spring and summer to stay open.

“For us, the tourist season is incredibly, incredibly important. We hope that hopefully the economy is rolling by summer, and I think one of our biggest concerns is how eager people will be to travel," Sailor said.

Traverse City is another part of the state that relies heavily on tourism. It's also home to the family-run Moomers Homemade Ice Cream. Jon Plummer is part of that family. He said that while Moomers is in the midst of revamping their service model for a socially-distanced summer, they have found that grocery stores are ordering larger quantities of ice cream right now. While they've had to rethink some of their operations, Plummer said some things will never change.

“The service portion, the handing the cone¹⁰ to the kid, the five-year-old kid, that’s jumping up and down with excitement to get an ice cream treat, may be postponed¹¹ for a bit. However, the experience of ice cream running down their chin sitting on our deck overlooking our 80-acre dairy will continue,” Plummer said.

1 pivot   

v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的

参考例句：

• She is the central pivot of creation and represents the feminine aspect in all things.她是创造的中心枢轴，表现出万物的女性面貌。
• If a spring is present,the hand wheel will pivot on the spring.如果有弹簧，手轮的枢轴会装在弹簧上。

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

3 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

4 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

10 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

11 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。