“We were in absolute crisis, and we were risking a major, major meltdown of financial conditions, economic conditions and health conditions simultaneously.”
—Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the US Treasury, September 2020
“We packed months of legislative process into five days.”
—US Senator Charles Schumer, March 2020
“Be fast, have no regrets. You must be the first mover.
The virus will always get you if you don’t move quickly.”
—Dr. Michael Ryan, World Health Organization/epidemiologist, March 2020
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In early 2020, the American economy was roaring. Unemployment was historically low, and small business optimism was on the rise. And then the coronavirus changed everything.
Lockdowns, massive unemployment claims, and small business closures spread throughout the country. Those who could do so worked from their homes, virtually educating their children and trying to maintain some sense of normalcy for their families. All they could do was watch the news as the media reported that millions of Americans were infected with the virus, and that many would ultimately lose their lives to complications associated with the disease.
Along Main Streets across the country, the dreams of countless entrepreneurs faced permanent ruin; their hopes hung in the balance in the halls of Congress and within the walls of the Oval Office. The CARES Act was passed and signed into law in March 2020, with a price tag of over $2 trillion. Small businesses and their workers relied on various programs, including the now famed Paycheck Protection Program, which ultimately sought to inject $800 billion into the US economy. This is the story of that time, and what the world learned about the resilience of the entrepreneur.
In Plandemic, former US Small Business Administration Acting Administrator and White House Senior Policy Advisor Chris Pilkerton contends that when the next pandemic hits, policymakers must be prepared with a focused action plan to support the economic engine of the United States of America: small business.