Asian American Businesses Suffer during Pandemic
2021-04-21
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Jan-Ie Low and her family have owned a restaurant in Las Vegas for the past 15 years.
2Like many restaurants during the pandemic, it shut down for two months last year.
3When the SATAY Thai Bistro & Bar reopened it could not have people inside.
4Because of the hot desert heat, people could not eat outside either.
5And conventions which bring people to Las Vegas were cancelled because of the health crisis.
6So they turned the restaurant into a food delivery business.
7"If you don't adapt, you're going to be left behind," said Low.
8Even with the changes, sales dropped by half from 2019.
9The pandemic has been especially hard on Asian-owned businesses like the Low's.
10Many Asian Americans operate small businesses like restaurants and nail salons.
11These service industries were hit hard by pandemic restrictions on indoor gatherings.
12Language barriers and limited relationships with banks have made it harder for them to learn about government aid.
13And they have also faced a rise in hate crimes from those that blamed Asians for the virus.
14A JP Morgan Chase Institute study showed that, by the end of March, sales for Asian-American businesses dropped by more than 60 percent.
15In comparison, most small businesses faced a 50 percent drop during the pandemic.
16Michael Park's family has owned a dry cleaning business in Philadelphia for 34 years.
17He said business has gotten better since the summer.
18But sales are still only 25 percent of what they were before the pandemic.
19Park is using government loans to stay in business.
20"We're just trying to stay afloat," he said.
21Last year, the U.S. government created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help small businesses hurt by the pandemic.
22Researchers at the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of Nevada found that many minority-owned businesses were left out at the start of the program.
23The program was later changed to include more small and community-based lenders, which resulted in more support for minority-owned businesses.
24Jamie Lee works for a community development organization that supports small businesses in Seattle's Chinatown area.
25She said many business owners she works with just know enough English to serve customers.
26But some might feel their English is not strong enough to go through the complex process to seek government assistance.
27Teizi Mersai runs Lam's Seafood Market, a Vietnamese-American-owned food store in Seattle.
28He said small businesses like his have survived with the help of neighborhood groups and local aid organizations.
29"The community really does come together," he said.
30An Asian American worker at the store, however, was attacked on his way home from the store.
31He was not seriously hurt.
32It is unclear whether the attack was a hate crime but employees are taking precautions.
33We "tell everyone to make sure you travel in pairs as much as you can," Mersai said.
34I'm Jill Robbins
1Jan-Ie Low and her family have owned a restaurant in Las Vegas for the past 15 years. Like many restaurants during the pandemic, it shut down for two months last year. 2When the SATAY Thai Bistro & Bar reopened it could not have people inside. Because of the hot desert heat, people could not eat outside either. And conventions which bring people to Las Vegas were cancelled because of the health crisis. So they turned the restaurant into a food delivery business. 3"If you don't adapt, you're going to be left behind," said Low. Even with the changes, sales dropped by half from 2019. 4The pandemic has been especially hard on Asian-owned businesses like the Low's. 5Many Asian Americans operate small businesses like restaurants and nail salons. These service industries were hit hard by pandemic restrictions on indoor gatherings. 6Language barriers and limited relationships with banks have made it harder for them to learn about government aid. And they have also faced a rise in hate crimes from those that blamed Asians for the virus. 7A JP Morgan Chase Institute study showed that, by the end of March, sales for Asian-American businesses dropped by more than 60 percent. In comparison, most small businesses faced a 50 percent drop during the pandemic. 8Michael Park's family has owned a dry cleaning business in Philadelphia for 34 years. He said business has gotten better since the summer. But sales are still only 25 percent of what they were before the pandemic. Park is using government loans to stay in business. 9"We're just trying to stay afloat," he said. 10Trouble getting aid 11Last year, the U.S. government created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help small businesses hurt by the pandemic. 12Researchers at the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of Nevada found that many minority-owned businesses were left out at the start of the program. The program was later changed to include more small and community-based lenders, which resulted in more support for minority-owned businesses. 13Jamie Lee works for a community development organization that supports small businesses in Seattle's Chinatown area. She said many business owners she works with just know enough English to serve customers. But some might feel their English is not strong enough to go through the complex process to seek government assistance. 14Teizi Mersai runs Lam's Seafood Market, a Vietnamese-American-owned food store in Seattle. He said small businesses like his have survived with the help of neighborhood groups and local aid organizations. 15"The community really does come together," he said. 16An Asian American worker at the store, however, was attacked on his way home from the store. He was not seriously hurt. It is unclear whether the attack was a hate crime but employees are taking precautions. 17We "tell everyone to make sure you travel in pairs as much as you can," Mersai said. 18I'm Jill Robbins 19Jonnelle Marte reported this story for Reuters. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 20_______________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22delivery-n. the act of taking something to a person or place 23adapt- v. to change your behavior so that it is easier to live in a particular place or situation 24sale-n. the act of selling something : the exchange of goods, services, or property for money 25afloat-adj. having enough money to continue : able to continue without suffering financial failure