Maryland Small Businesses Struggle Amid Government Shutdown
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — In a co-working space in the heart of downtown Baltimore, two of Maryland's Democratic lawmakers listened to the spiking concerns of Charm City's small business
For them, it's not just lost sales, some are losing staff. Others say they can't get the permits they need to keep operating. They say all of these issues are a ripple effect of this nearly month-long shutdown.
"We've already heard from small business owners in Maryland who have not been able to keep all their people employed, they've had to lay off workers, we know there are loans that should have been processed by now that have not been processed," said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
"They're not able to keep their operations going, startups can't get launched, and so it's having a snowballing effect on the community," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
There is no end in sight, with the White House and Democrats still deadlocked in negotiations.
35 miles north of that impasse, Fearless Solutions founder Delali Dzirasa runs a tech business, successful at landing government contracts.
Some of those contracts are now hanging in limbo.
"A contract that has a really critical deliverable and a date, even if it's six months from now you've got a choice to make, do you do nothing, and risk being at fault by not making the deadline, or do we keep going and pray and hope that maybe we get paid but there's no guarantee, so it's a really difficult situation," Dzirasa said.
The State's tax collector reports 172,000 Marylanders are directly impacted by the shutdown with federal employees and contractors, losing $778 million with each missed pay day, and costing the State $2.1 million in sales tax collections alone.
The shutdown may also affect people's long-term spending habits, and that Maryland's economy, "may not be made whole,", according to the report.
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