New Poll Shows Widespread Small Business Impact from COVID-19

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the National Small Business Association (NSBA) is releasing a new poll on how the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is impacting America's small businesses?sometimes to a devastating degree. This new poll quantifies the broad economic impact of COVID-19 and also includes many stories directly from small-business owners on the real-world havoc it is wreaking.

"This disease is creating an economic disaster for many small companies, and threatening the entire small-business community. We will likely be feeling the impact for months if not years," stated NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken. "In fact, more than half of small-business owners are now anticipating a recession in the coming 12 months compared with just 14 percent in January."

The poll also includes small-business profiles on how the owners, their businesses, their employees and their families are faring in these trying times. NSBA is continuing to provide resources and information on its website, and is holding a sold-out briefing call for members today, a podcast of which will be available end-of-day Monday at www.nsba.biz.

Congress and the Administration should see the current bill they are working on as only a first step. They will need to take further actions to strengthen the economy and specifically improve and protect small-business cash-flow. The short-term cash-crunch  that many small businesses will face could force otherwise successful companies to close, further deepening an economic downturn.

This poll was conducted online among more than 950 small-business owners on March 11-13.

Please visit www.nsba.biz for details and updates, or contact our Media Affairs department with any media-related inquiries.

Celebrating more than 80 years in operation, NSBA is a member-driven nonpartisan organization advocating on behalf of America's entrepreneurs. NSBA's 65,000 members represent every state and every industry in the U.S., and we are proud to be the nation's first small-business advocacy organization. Please visit www.nsba.biz.

SOURCE National Small Business Association