Douglas County business owners wait for congress to pass stimulus package

Douglas County business owners wait for congress to pass stimulus package

The 900 billion the u-s congress is still trying to make a decision on the 900 billion dollar coronavirus relief package that was proposed sunday.

However, some douglas county businesses are anxious to find out if they'll be getting the extra help.

Kezi 9 news reporter evita garza shows us why they say it's needed now more than ever.

Trt: 1:28 00:00 take lower as the owner of the parrot house restaurant& heidi lael says it has been challenging adjusting to the pandemic, she says they shut down for most of the year, reopened with a limited three day schedule and lost more than half of their staff.

Heidi lael, owner, the parrot house:?we did everything we could to keep people working because that was so important because seeing 25 people lose their job was absolutely heartbreaking.

In the proposed bill, congress could restart the paycheck protection program& which gave small businesses more than 500 million dollars in loans from april to august.

However, p-p-p looks different this time around.

It is only open to businesses that have less than 300 employees and saw a 25 percent drop in revenue over the year.

However, small business advisor sam gross says the parrot house is one of the many bussinesses who qualify& and will signficantly help.

00:51 sam gross, douglas county small business advisor: fine dining restaurants have completely shut down so they will be eligible."

00:57 evita:?whatever congress decides, heidi says she just glad they are having the conversation about helping small businesses through this tough time?

Right now, the restaurant is open for outdoor seating and take out.?i think us and all the restaurants, wee choosing to make it work is what we can?

And lael says shel continue to make it work& no matter what it takes.

No more long breaks.

Unless kate brown shuts us down completely, wee going to keep going for it.

That what going to keep us alive?

In roseburg, evita