NC chef Ashley Christensen: Your community’s restaurants need more help to survive

For the second time in two weeks, my phone was blowing up.

News about the CARES Act that Congress planned to pass was reaching the public, and my network of restaurant folks had wasted no time in deciphering its contents. And we were freaking out.

My heart immediately dropped into my stomach, echoing how I’d felt a little over a week ago, before the CARES Act bill came to a vote, when I sat in an office and had conversations for over five hours straight with the dozens of managers and over more than 200 hourly employees to tell them that I could no longer offer them employment.

And I’d do it again in order to prioritize public health. I’d do it again to keep my team safe from harm. I’d do it again to prevent even one person from contracting Coronavirus in one of my restaurants. But just because it was the right thing to do didn’t make it any less traumatic or any less devastating. Just because it was the right thing to do didn’t make the consequences any less severe or real for the employees out of work, or the farmers without clients.

The CARES Act became a crusade for many of us. We called, we posted, we pleaded. We formed the Independent Restaurant Coalition and we spoke to politicians. Over 40 chefs from across the country spoke every morning and every night, for over a week. We put our full energy into shaping the bill, trying to influence the leaders of our country to help our industry by pointing out data points about how many jobs we create, how much revenue we generate, and how very much at risk we are.

That’s because our businesses were among the first to close, causing a widespread and immediate stoppage of cash flow. The Department of Labor reported this week that over 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment, and 20 states indicated that food service workers were among the hardest hit.

Now that the CARES Act is law, the options for independent restaurants had been stripped down to just a few avenues for relief. There was comfort in knowing that the increased uninsurance benefits would immediately help our laid off teammates, albeit temporarily. The Paycheck Protection Program, which had the most promise for restaurants, is underfunded and unrealistic for what the majority of full service, independent restaurants are going through. If restaurants cannot reopen within two months, benefits will run out and we will once again be unable to pay our workers. Even if we can reopen, we still anticipate a major reduction in business because this pandemic will change the social climate forever.

As the guidance on the bill came to light, I stood before my first restaurant, Poole’s Diner, locked and dark, and the terror and grief that ripped through me nearly knocked me over. This building has been a food business since 1945; it has served the Raleigh community for decades, first as a pie shop, then a luncheonette, and, in the 12 years since I’ve owned it, a restaurant focused on elevated comfort food. And as I thought about the options for relief that existed, I truly wondered if we’d ever be able to re-open again.

Fixing the Paycheck Protection Program is the first step, but we also need a stabilization fund. This $100 billion fund could be carved out for “the most severely distressed sectors of the economy.” If airlines and cruise ships qualify for these funds, so should independent restaurants. Restaurants generate about $1 trillion to our economy, or 4% of GDP. A vast majority of these restaurants are independently-owned small businesses. Prior to this crisis, we directly employed about 11 million people – more than double either the airlines or cruise industry. Restaurants also support a large ecosystem of business, including farmers, fishermen, winemakers and distributors, and so much more. We drive tourism and commerce and are one of the biggest tax revenue generators for federal, state, and local coffers. We are not the giant corporate enterprises – we are the mom-and-pop businesses that churn about 90% of our revenue back into our communities. If any industry can serve as the poster child for the bipartisan intentions of this fund, local restaurants should be it.

We need a framework that gives us a longer runway, and a chance to not only pay our people, but our vendors. By investing in restaurants, we’re investing in the backbone of our community. By helping restaurants get back on our feet, we’re helping society get moving again.

This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 4:54 PM.