Federal and state leaders met with members of the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism (OACCT) to discuss the impact of the covid restrictions on business and how each level of government plans to move forward. Re-elected congressman Jim Hagedorn addressed the group first, talking about his desire to get a next stimulus package passed before the end of the year to support businesses, communities and individuals until a vaccine can be widely distributed.
"First and foremost we need to get more paycheck protection money", said Hagedorn. "There's like $138 Billion dollars left over sitting there, that should be going to a lot of the small businesses that continue to suffer."
State senator John Jasinski expressed frustration in the Minnesota process telling the businesses on the call that the senate, which is held by republicans, is trying to work with Governor Walz to participate in the decision-making process, but with little success.
"We will try to do what we can with the governor if we go into special session to get something done for aid to our hospitality industry," said Jasinski.
Representative Petersburg talked about how each decision being made has a consequence and putting restrictions on businesses puts them at a huge disadvantage through no fault of their own and the state should help those businesses out.
"Seems to me now again with the government closing them down it would make sense that even minimally we should be able to figure out how to eliminate the need," said Petersburg. "Maybe we allow everybody (bars and restaurants) to renew (licenses) this year without having to pay the fee."
The representatives spoke with members of the Chamber Board of Directors, Public Policy committee and restaurant owners for an hour and covered a variety of topics from Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness, to covid legal protections. A recording of the whole meeting will be posted shortly.
ABOUT
Our Chamber has approximately 530 members that invest their resources, employee volunteerism and confidence in the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism and the business community.
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Address
Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism
120 South Oak AVE
Owatonna, MN 55060
Email
oacct@owatonna.org
Phone
507-451-7970
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