An Open Letter to Governor Raimondo - Angelica Penta of Gels Kitchen
Friday, October 30, 2020
Dear Governor,
Before making your decision for your speech Friday please take small businesses into consideration.
As a small business owner I'm asking you to please not shut down restaurants or other small businesses any more than you already have. What I don't understand is that restaurants and other small businesses have to ask the covid questions to customers, take down their contact info, refuse them if they aren't wearing a mask or covid symptoms, use all takeout or throw away condiments, use different menus, put up plexiglass between every booth and disinfect everything everyone touches.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMy question is how come big box stores don't need to do this? I can go to a supermarket or another big store and NO ONE asks if anyone has covid, any symptoms, been around anyone that tested positive or traveled outside the state exc. Someone could have the virus and walk right into any of these stores. They can touch anything they want, pick up things and put it back, touch all the produce and walk away and no one will be behind them to disinfect everything. I go in a store and there are so many people, I have to clean my own carriage and no one has a clue if I'm sick or not.
Maybe these are the places you should consider putting more restrictions on instead of small businesses that are following the rules and always making the sacrifices. Nothing against these places or their workers but its not fair only certain places get targeted. Inspectors have been to my place several times when we pass every time and go above and beyond to follow the rules, but you should be at the actual places that aren't following the rules with no plexiglass, no 6ft apart, no question asked and so on.
Its not fair to my hard working employees that come to work every day and continue to have things said to them, because people try to not follow the rules (such as trying to walk in without a mask). They risk themselves and take the abuse of following the rules so they can keep their jobs and support their families. It breaks my heart to know they have to worry if they will be able to continue working.
No matter what I will find a way to keep them all working and taking care of their families, but that's not my point. As far as the small businesses, we are the ones that keep the community going. Go to a kids sports game and you see all local small businesses on the t-shirts, because small businesses sponsors the community. So many small businesses are closing and losing so much money they will never get back.
All the bills still cost the same, but the money coming in is much lower. The PPP loan (which I'm still waiting to hopefully get most of it forgiven) helped, except I got it at the beginning when we were shut down and only had 8 weeks to spend it on staff. I was paying people for weeks just to hang out. At week 7 of the 8 weeks, after making numerous phone calls and sending out letters I was told I now have 24 weeks to use it. This would have been extremely helpful if the money wasn't already used on staff I didn't need at the time.
I called multiple people and at first no one knew anything about the loan then I was told even if the loan got extended the payroll part still needed to be spent in the 8 weeks. Now, let's talk about applying for the restore RI grant....... this was so crazy I think the only thing you didn't ask for was my blood type. I still haven't received any part of the grant yet. I get times are hard for everyone, but we can't keep losing these great businesses that are closing daily. Its already so hard to own a business in RI and everyone is hanging on as tight as they can.
There are ways of making things better without taking away any more jobs or closing any more small business. Please find another way to make things happen.
Thank you for your time,
Angelica Penta
Gel's Kitchen, Warwick, RI
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