LB Chamber Joins 81 Cal Chambers To ‘Save Small Businesses’

Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest membership chambers of commerce in Los Angeles County, has recently joined with 81 Chambers of Commerce and business organizations representing businesses in California to call on state officials including Governor Newsom, State Senators, Assemblymembers and all California elected officials to “Save Small Businesses” in California.

The “Save Small Business Coalition” and “Open & Safe California Coalition” along with the 81 Chambers of Commerce and business organizations have formally submitted a letter to state leaders imploring, “Our small businesses are integral in defining the character of our communities… the restaurants, breweries, wineries, retail boutiques and personal service providers. Your debilitating policies are direct attacks on the quality of life in each of our communities.”

The letter continues, according to a recent report from Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, “The number of active business owners in the United States plummeted by 3.3 million or 22 percent over the crucial two-month window from February to April 2020.... African American businesses were hit especially hard experiencing a 41 percent drop. Latinx business owners fell by 32 percent, and Asian business owners dropped by 26 percent... Immigrant business owners experienced substantial losses of 36 percent. Female-owned businesses were also disproportionately hit by 25 percent.”

While we care about all small businesses, the letter states, it is important to point out the disproportionate impact shutdowns have had on women-owned and minority-owned businesses.

“It’s imperative that we move now to open all businesses, especially women-owned and minority-owned businesses, so that the welfare of the owners and health of the communities where they operate remain viable,” said Jeremy Harris, President & CEO, Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. “To achieve this, we’ve joined together as a coalition of chambers and business organizations and are relying on our strength in numbers, to speak with one unified voice and to exhibit indisputable evidence to support the immediate reopening of small businesses in California.”

Formed in March 2020, the Save Small Business Coalition mission is not about one single industry, it is about all small businesses across the nation that need funds right now to stay afloat to maintain the continuity of their business. They are asking for extraordinary emergency action by the Government to empower an urgent solution that currently doesn’t exist.

For additional information, please visit https://savesmallbusinesscoalition.org/