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There’s no doubt that Coronavirus caught everyone off guard, including Portland Oregon business owners like Jamaal Lane who were forced to shut down their businesses in March.<\/p>\n
Sadly, since the lock down many business owners have since closed their businesses and won’t be coming back once Portland’s economy is allowed to reopen.<\/p>\n
Jamaal Lane knew what he was doing when he decided to open the Champions Barbering Institute<\/a> in 2016. He\u2019d started as a barber himself in 2003, and opened his first storefront, Champions Barber Shop<\/a> in Portland in 2008. The school was an opportunity to get out of the day-to-day business of cutting hair, focus on growing his own business, and give back to a new generation of up-and-coming barbers.<\/p>\n
It was a big move, but it worked: Early this year, business was good. He\u2019d just enrolled in a new class of 20 students at the school and had 14 barbers working for him in three shops across the metro area.<\/p>\n
Now, those 14 barbers are among the hundreds of thousands of Oregonians who are out of work.<\/p>\n
When Gov. Kate Brown issued an executive order on March 23<\/a> requiring Oregonians to stay at home, the order specified non-essential businesses that were forced to close. Fifth on that list? Barbershops and hair salons.<\/p>\n
Still, Lane said he wasn\u2019t caught off-guard; he\u2019d already had a meeting with his staff the week before. He wanted to let them decide for themselves whether continuing to work through a growing pandemic was worth the risk.<\/p>\n
Barbershops are close-quarters establishments. They follow strict safety and sanitation guidelines, but there\u2019s no social distancing available when you spend your days touching your clients\u2019 heads and faces. Most of Lane\u2019s barbers decided that risk simply wasn\u2019t worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of them have older family members, they were taking it very seriously,\u201d Lane said. \u201cThey were worried about taking it to their families, saying, \u2018I could potentially wipe my whole family out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when it clicked for me,\u201d he said. \u201cOh, we will be closed soon whether the governor makes a decision here or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waiting game<\/strong><\/h3>\n
While deciding to close his business was a clear decision, navigating the web of government assistance programs has been murky. Lane said he went right ahead and applied for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Emergency Advance program and the Paycheck Protection Program through the Small Business Administration, but both came up dry.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just him: Lane said that he doesn\u2019t know of a single barbershop in the state that\u2019s had any luck either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t talked to one shop owner in the state of Oregon that I know \u2014 and I know quite a few \u2014 that has received funds from either of those programs,\u201d Lane said.<\/p>\n
His theory is that businesses like Champions Barbershop and Barbering Institute just aren\u2019t big enough to register with the influx of need: They\u2019ve been crowded out by thousands of other small businesses in the same, urgent situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a strong feeling they\u2019re prioritizing the funds to larger companies that are asking for larger sums of money,\u201d he said. \u201cI truly believe that\u2019s what happening.\u201d<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Portland Businesses Are Slowly Reopening<\/span><\/h3>\n
As Portland Oregon businesses are slowly allowed to reopen following Coronavirus, it’s likely that Jamaal Lane and other barbers, stylists and salons across Portland will be allowed to reopen soon since most cities across the United States are allowing salons to open if their customers wear face coverings.<\/span><\/p>\n
One thing is for certain, Portland needs small businesses to survive and once PDX locals are able to get their haircuts locally again, life will return a little more back to “normal” after Coronavirus.<\/span><\/p>\n
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