Democracy Dies in Darkness

Small business used to define America’s economy. The pandemic could change that forever.

More than 100,000 small businesses have closed forever as the nation’s pandemic toll escalates

By
May 12, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. EDT
Stacy Dockins instructs her husband Dave as they practice for a virtual yoga class at their home in Midlothian, Tex. The couple made the decision on May 1 to permanently close all three of their yoga studios in the Fort Worth area as costs escalated and it wasn't clear when they could safely reopen. Now they are online-only. (Abbi O'Leary for The Washington Post)

The coronavirus pandemic is emerging as an existential threat to the nation’s small businesses — despite Congress approving a historic $700 billion to support them — with the potential to further diminish the place of small companies in the American economy.

The White House and Congress have made saving small businesses a linchpin of the financial rescue, even passing a second stimulus for them late last month. But already, economists project that more than 100,000 small businesses have shut permanently since the pandemic escalated in March, according to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois, Harvard Business School, Harvard University and the University of Chicago. Their latest data suggests at least 2 percent of small businesses are gone, according to a survey conducted May 9 to 11.