An impassioned letter to Gov. Phil Murphy on behalf of small business owners in southern New Jersey to put trust in them to reopen safely.
Meghan Protasi, whose family owns and operates Pete Smith’s Surf Shops in Cape May and Stone Harbor, details in the letter the hard work and joy that goes into their business every year – and the current challenges they now face after a devastating spring season.
Perhaps the biggest emotional challenge, Protasi says, has been seeing big box stores remain open during the COVID-19 crisis, while most small businesses deemed as non-essential remain shuttered after 10 weeks.
“I understand the sacrifices that we have been making to keep people well, but I can no longer accept the notion that small businesses are incapable of following the same CDC recommendations that have enabled big box stores to remain open throughout the pandemic,” Protasi writes.
“We will follow the guidelines and do everything in our power to protect our staff and customers. We will get this right, not just because our livelihoods depend on it, but because we care about each and every member of our extended family.
“I know that this is a difficult decision, but it is time to let us open. Trust us. We have built our small businesses from hard work and perseverance. We can do hard things.”
Protasi also gathered the signatures of nearly 200 residents and business owners in Cape May County in an accompanying letter urging the governor to reopen businesses by June 1.
Protasi told New Jersey Business Today that she felt compelled to write the letters and gather signatures “because many small business owners in our area have expressed their concerns about being forgotten as they watch other business sectors begin to open.”
“It is very difficult to see our customers walk past our stores and into big box stores to buy the things that they need,” she said. “We know we can offer our staff and customers the same level of confidence and security in our ability to operate safely.”
As of today, Governor Murphy has not set a firm timeline on the reopening of non-essential businesses, amid rising temperatures of small businesses owners who are struggling to survive.
On Tuesday, NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka testified before the Senate Fiscal Recovery Strategist meeting that urgency is needed in establishing guidelines so businesses in the state can reopen safely in the state’s response to COVID-19.
“We know the pain that’s out there,” Siekerka said. “So now when business is going to go in and retool their facility or their business model, every penny that they spend is cherished and precious.
“And they can’t spend it one time for someone to come back like the regulator and say, ‘You did a really good job but, by the way, now the prescriptive guidance is this.’”
The governor is an elitist and has no plan other then to slow walk openings as long as possible. He claims to use numbers and science but then picks arbitrary businesses and times to open. Examples: Graduations, bike shops, professional sports
I also own a small business in NJ. I have reached out to our Mayor, the state legislature for our district and the Gov.
I am told that all the power lies in the Gov decision. Very scarey that one person has so much power.
So many of us can open safely . We do need to be trusted. I know my business can do it and we are ready.
It’s awful that the Gov does not even respond to us.
Send a clear message next election & vote him OUT OF OFFICE!!!
So happy to hear someone is openly expressing what we are all thinking…..why did the governor throw small business under the bus.
Wonderfully captured!
Monmouth County is much the same as Cape May County! Small businesses are also forced to appeal to their town governments for guidance. “Nonessential” as a category is insulting to the many workers as well as extended numbers of citizens whose livelihoods are reliant on the business services we provide! All because we have limited employees does not mean that we don’t have reach well beyond our brick and mortar as to whom our closures help employ or otherwise affect or that we care less for the well being of our cherished customer base! It is time for all of the well intented policies to be pivoted into fair and equitable policies!
Thank you for having the energy and concern to address these crisis issues and the courage to speak on all of our behalves!
NJ has become a very Liberal State, but unfortunately the Dem Party has no more Moderates. Those are the sensible leaders not Elitist Progressives like Murphy! VOTE HIM OUT next election & send a clear message that his draconian leadership will not be tolerated.
Please DON’T re-elect him! NJ send a clear message to our Elitist & Progressive Governor who can’t run a Lemonade stand, that he has failed us & don’t reward him with a second term!
Send him a clear message and vote him out so he doesn’t have a second term!
I never believed in deep state conspiracy theories until Murphy. He’s driven large business out of NJ with his taxes and regulations. Now, under the guise of humanitarian, he’s found a way to destroy small businesses too.
The man scares me.
As a small business and NJBIA member, I will not longer stay on as a member. NJBIA has not voice for small business as set out for their mission…..these times small businesses need one voice to explain to the Gov how essential small businesses are…clearly NJBIA has become just a message delivery organization for the Gov…..in reality these are the times we need NJBIA. I donot blame our Government, I blame the voices we all pay dues to explain how gov is wrong when wrong.
Small business owners of whom I am one have built their business by making solid well thought out decisions not through careless, uncaring, self-centered decisions. Our Governor made his vast sum of money on Wall Street working for a very large brokerage house, how can he possibly relate to what it takes for a small business operator to succeed. He loves to sit in front of a TV camera and spout how much he cares about the people of NJ and how he has to take care of us as of course we could not take care of our self’s. He has no training, no experience and surly no ability to handle a emergency like we are in, he is flying by the seat of his pants the whole way. He needs to give us our freedoms back and allow us to succeed as we did well before he felt he needed to run our lives and our business. Freedoms lost are hard to regain, look at history.