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Buffalo-area businesses, employees hit hard by coronavirus pandemic

Several small businesses have been forced to lay off part or all of their staff.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Several businesses have closed their doors and several customers are staying home, forcing many business owners to lay off part or all of their staff.

That means a lot of people are trying to file for unemployment right now. 

New York State did waive the seven-day waiting period for unemployment insurance. 

The state is also in the process of putting a comprehensive paid sick leave program together, but no bill has been passed yet. 

On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury proposed delivering $500 billion in check payments to millions of Americans. It's all part of a plan to help the economy, but those check wouldn't arrive until April.  

A business expert told 2 On Your Side the last time a stimulus package was passed was the 2009 recession.

It took six months for Americans to get their paychecks.

He says right now, several small business owners who haven't closed their doors completely should be coming up with several backup plans. That means one for the next two weeks, another for the next four, and so on. 

He says most businesses won't be able to last more than a couple weeks though.

It will instead require some intervention from the federal government.

Until then, he says business owners should be asking themselves some important questions. 

"Looking at our creditors, like which ones can we negotiate with? Negotiating with our landlord, can we refinance our debt? Can we tap into a small business loan? What options do we have to manage cash flow? Because that's the issue," said Matthew Pelkey, partner at Colligan Law. 

Pelkey adds the worst case scenario is filing for bankruptcy.

He says even then, it's providing owners with some protection because it's a liquidation.

He says that will allow businesses to create a plan with creditors and continue moving forward. 

One example of a business in Buffalo that has not had to lay off employees yet includes Overwinter Coffee.

The owners there say while their employees aren't working, they are paying them through the end of the month. 

"No one really knows how long or broad this situation can become, so we want to give them the comfort of knowing that at a minimum, we can take care of them in the short term," co-owner Josh Halliman said. "Obviously as a business, it may not be viable to do that forever. But for now,  we want to give them that piece of mind."

Overwinter Coffee has also reduced hours and the owners are encouraging people to order their coffee beans online. 

Halliman says each employee was spoken with one-on-one about what would be happening moving forward. 

He says he encourages other businesses, no matter how big or small, to at least be transparent with its employees about everything.

That way employees can figure out what they planning they need to start doing now to take care of themselves and their families. 

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