MANCHESTER, N.H. – How hard will the combination of this winter and the COVID-19 pandemic impact New Hampshire’s hospitality industry? That may all depend on Congress.
On Friday, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) held a phone roundtable with leaders in New Hampshire’s hospitality and entertainment sector to discuss their thoughts regarding the upcoming winter and pandemic on their businesses.
The consensus among the group was stark: without further assistance from Congress, many restaurants will not survive until the spring, and that may result in a larger ripple effect.
“It’s not like you’re going to lose a place to eat, you’re going to lose the entire economy,” said Jay Bolduc, managing operator of Great NH Restaurants.
Bolduc’s colleague at Great NH Restuarants, CEO and Owner Tom Boucher, went further. While he said that the third quarter was a good one for his chain, which employs 1,000 employees at New Hampshire restaurants such as T-Bones and Copper Door, he’s expecting a $500,000 loss for the fourth quarter now that the weather is getting cooler and outdoor dining is less appealing.
“We’re going to need help, there’s not a question in my mind,” he said.
Boucher said that another concern is fear among members of the public when it comes to the safety of eating in restaurants, but he says recent efforts to introduce contact tracing with customers have helped.
Members of the panel also suggested an expansion of a proposal by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Susan Collins (R-ME) that allow partial forgiveness of small business administration loans in certain situations. They also recommended curtailing additional unemployment funding for employees, citing that made it difficult to retain employees earlier this year.
Paul Ramsey of the Palace Theater asked if it would be possible to build automatic extensions to stimulus packages that kick in given certain triggers, but Shaheen said it has been difficult to convince other members of Congress to include automatic triggers into legislation.
Shaheen echoed a concern shared by other members of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation urging immediate action on a new stimulus package, but said that she has not heard any interest from Republican leadership in the Senate on a new package and feared the holiday season may create increased COVID-19 infections.