From the Editor: Small businesses roaring back after a rough couple of years
While we hesitate to say the pandemic is behind us, we have at least had the good fortune to return to in-person meetings and events in recent weeks.
In recent meetings around the state, I’ve noticed one persistent trend: People are not sitting still. Nearly every business that survived the pandemic (to date) has had to make major changes in how business is conducted. Business leaders have had to adjust hours, workplace setups, customer interactions, hiring protocols and vendor relationships, while adapting to supply-chain issues and rising interest rates.
While the pandemic offered a crash course in change management, many small business owners became star students overnight.
For our cover story, senior staff writer Renee Cordes writes about a microloan program that supports immigrant-owned small businesses. She talks to businesspeople who have gone through the process in “Lending a hand,” which starts on Page 14.
It’s been a turbulent time for small business owners, surviving the shutdowns, navigating the labor shortages and overcoming supply chain issues. But through it all, Laurie Schreiber reports, Maine small businesses are showing optimism. See “Scrappy small businesses,” which starts on Page 22.
Our list for this issue is Maine’s largest SBA 7(a) loans, on Page 38.
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