Loudoun Women Business Owners Discuss COVID's Impact With Senator

LEESBURG, VA — U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) met with women business owners in Loudoun County Friday to learn about the top issues facing them as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its second year and to inform them of available federal financial assistance.

Kaine began the day by holding a roundtable discussion at Morven Park in Leesburg with Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce Chair Stacey Metcalfe and other women business leaders in the county.

Women have disproportionately lost jobs during the pandemic, whether it has been through higher rates of layoffs or women leaving their jobs to take care of children. More than 2.3 million women have left the workforce since February 2020, bringing their labor participation rate to levels not seen since 1988, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

In December 2020, women lost 156,000 jobs while men gained 16,000 jobs. Last month, Kaine co-signed a letter urging the Biden administration to support efforts to help women return to the workforce.

“Without significant focus and attention to women’s workforce issues at the federal level, the disproportionate economic impact of the pandemic on women threatens to harm our nation’s overall recovery and reverse decades of progress,” the senators wrote in the letter. “As your partners in Congress and as longstanding supporters of a range of legislative solutions to address the challenges outlined above, we look forward to working with you to address these issues and helping women re-enter the workforce.”

Kane told the roundtable participants that Congress has approved programs to help workers and small business owners survive the pandemic. In the American Rescue Plan, signed into law earlier this month, localities in Virginia will receive $2.8 billion to help address the pandemic.

As of now, Kaine said it is unknown how much of the $2.8 billion that Loudoun County will receive, but the allocation is expected to be significant due to the county’s large population.

The funds from the American Rescue Plan can be used to cover the costs incurred by localities to deal with the pandemic. They also can be used to target economic growth among small businesses in Loudoun and other jurisdictions across the state, he said.

"I am feeling a sense of uplift right now, with vaccinations being deployed, the spring weather and some of the relief we’ve done percolating into communities," Kaine told the roundtable participants.

After the roundtable discussion at Morven Park, Kaine visited women-owned businesses across Loudoun to meet with the owners and hear about their challenges.

Kaine met with Andrea Johnson, owner of Temple Training on King Street in Leesburg, where he learned about how her business pivoted to offering online personal training and courses on nutritional practices when the pandemic hit.

Temple Training stresses the importance of educating people on healthy lifestyles, which could help to prevent the worse impacts of COVID-19 if they test positive.

Johnson, who sits on the health committee of the Loudoun NAACP, told Patch that the civil rights group has partnered with local churches to get people vaccinated, especially more vulnerable members of the community. Many of the people Johnson has helped have reached out to express their gratitude, she said.