By Samantha Cart
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, small business defines 98 percent of companies in West Virginia and accounts for 49 percent of the state’s workforce. These statistics have left many wondering how West Virginia will weather the economic storm created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, April 28, Dr. Chris Stansbury, OD, a partner at West Virginia Eye Consultants (WVEC), represented the Mountain State at a presidential news conference in Washington, D.C. At the conference, President Donald Trump discussed the Paycheck Protection Program and how the federal government is working to support the nation’s small businesses. Stansbury was given the opportunity to speak about how the coronavirus has affected his small businesses and how WVEC used the program as a lifeline during the shutdown.
Tell me about your trip to Washington, D.C. How did this invitation come to fruition?
I have been a member of a group called the Job Creators Network (JCN) for the last couple of years. The JCN was started by Bernie Marcus, the founder of Home Depot, and it advocates for small businesses at the national level. The White House called the JCN when they were setting up this event and asked for members who might be willing to share their stories about the COVID-19 shutdown and their experiences with the Paycheck Protection Program. A JCN representative called me to see if I would be interested in going to the White House to do the event with President Trump, and of course I said yes.
What did it mean to you to represent West Virginia in this unique way?
I was extremely honored to represent West Virginia, small business owners and the profession of optometry at the event. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of negative stereotypes out there about the Mountain State, so I was happy to do whatever I could to dispel those.
Tell me about meeting President Trump.
It was the privilege of a lifetime to meet the president. He was very warm and gracious and spent a lot of time talking to us before and after the event. He asked me how things were going in West Virginia and when we were going to be able to reopen.
Tell me about your experience with the Paycheck Protection Program. How has COVID-19 affected your business?
Our ability to generate revenue depends upon our ability to see patients. We had to completely shut down our practice for six weeks and couldn’t see any patients other than a handful of emergencies each day. That caused a huge hit to the bottom line. We had enough insurance reimbursements coming in to keep our staff on for a week or so, but we were ultimately forced to furlough more than 40 employees in order to survive. We applied for the Paycheck Protection Program loan as soon as the system opened on April 3, and thankfully we received our funds right before the Small Business Administration ran out of money. It was a lifeline for us. We were able to pay rent, utilities and other overhead, and we were able to start bringing our employees back to prepare for the reopening of our practice.
How can West Virginians help support small businesses like yours at this time?
We really need people to shop local. I know a lot of us got used to ordering things online during the shutdown because it was our only option, but now we need people to get out into our communities and support local companies so that we can get back up and running as quickly as possible.
Share with me your thoughts on reopening West Virginia.
I believe we are opening the state in a responsible fashion. People just need to use common sense—stay home if you’re feeling sick, don’t gather in crowds, keep washing your hands, and don’t touch your face.
What do you see for the state and small businesses going forward as we learn how to cope with the “new normal” and await a vaccine?
It’s going to be a long recovery for the Mountain State. Our economy was already fragile before the pandemic hit, so it will take us longer than most to recover. We need to shop local now more than ever to support our small businesses. That’s what will get them going, growing and hiring again.
About the Author
Samantha Cart is the editor in chief for West Virginia Executive magazine. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in journalism from West Virginia University. She can be reached at sdc@wvexecutive.com.
