The ongoing government shutdown is having a big impact on small businesses like mine. It’s past time for politicians to stop their grandstanding and restart government operations and the nation’s small business engine.
I own numerous hotels on the East Coast that employ hundreds of people. But since the shutdown started over a month ago, revenue at my Washington-area locations is down about 30 percent. That’s a massive hit in an industry that runs on notoriously slim profit margins.
The shutdown means no government conferences, no agency trainings, and far fewer lobbyists booking rooms or events. Tourism is down as federal sites are closed. Normally, this time of year is filled with business travelers and agency meetings tied to the federal calendar. Now, we have vacant rooms, night after night.
The shutdown’s adverse effects are forcing some entrepreneurs like me to float our businesses, hoping we can hold out until the government reopens. But we can only remain unprofitable for so long before we have to start making tough decisions.
I’ve already had to lay off two housekeepers in an effort to mitigate the shutdown’s impact, and additional cuts may be needed. Layoffs are always difficult and are done as a last resort because I know the consequences they have on families.
Yet to make matters worse, I recently received a notice of a Department of Labor complaint alleging that they were made due to racial discrimination. I’ve tried to get someone — anyone — at the Department of Labor to hear my side of the story that these were classic “last-in, first-out” economic layoffs. But with the shutdown, no one answers the phone, no one replies to emails, and there’s no one to turn to.
The same goes for the IRS. I’m still required to pay taxes, but I can’t get through to a single person to sort out questions about payment deadlines or processing. Same story at FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I can’t clarify the questions I have about the supplemental flood insurance the agency requires for some of my properties.
Small business owners like me are being squeezed from every side. We’re expected to keep paying bills, paying taxes, and complying with every burdensome regulation, while the very government agencies that enforce those rules are shuttered or unresponsive.
Normally, when challenges like this arise, the Small Business Administration can help keep entrepreneurs afloat through loan guarantees and other assistance. But with the SBA effectively closed, that critical lifeline has been cut off too.
Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler recently revealed that the shutdown has frozen record levels of SBA funding for entrepreneurs. For many small businesses, this lack of access to capital means their operation plans grind to a halt, shelving local investments and hiring.
Politicians in Washington can argue all they want about who’s to blame or which policy should prevail, but while they posture, small businesses are bleeding. Every day the government stays closed, more employers will lay off workers, default on loans, or risk going out of business.
I came to the U.S. from Mumbai when I was 13 years old. My parents brought me here, like so many others, for the chance to work hard and build a better life. Like many immigrants, we thought we were escaping a dysfunctional government that puts the priorities of small businesses and ordinary citizens last. The ongoing shutdown shows that, sadly, America is not immune to this government folly.
It’s time for Washington to stop the political games and reopen the government now. The policy debates can wait, but small businesses like mine cannot.
Rich Gandhi is a hotel owner of properties across the East Coast and a partner of Job Creators Network Foundation.
