COM Outlook Summer/Fall 2020

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 45 First-Person Perspectives I have witnessed how hospitals are starved for personal protective equipment and watched nurses being called to action in places they have never worked before. Therapists and other health care professionals have been asked to go above and beyond what their daily jobs entail, and medical students like myself, who have been banned from their rotations, are uncertain of how their futures play out. However, amidst an outpouring of public support for health care workers, I ask that you take a moment to consider the people who are, at best, aggregated into one group whenever you hear about them on the news. Local businesses have been absolutely devastated by the ongoing pandemic. Supply routes have been decimated and stockpiles depleted. Worst of all, customers have vanished. This perfect storm of massive disruption has left many small-business owners with no choice but to face the real possibility of extinction. Small businesses do not have the capital or resources to survive long periods without operation. For this reason, many of them quickly jumped aboard the contactless delivery or no-contact pickup trend that arose to help them stay afloat. However, with delivery drivers not wanting to risk infection and supply drop-offs dwindling, many local businesses had to quickly inform people that their most popular items may not even be in supply for the foreseeable future. A business that depends on the community ends with the community—and our neighbors are struggling. In my hometown on the west coast of Florida, I have seen local grocers close indefinitely and independent restaurants shut their doors with no plan for reopening. Sadly, many of those that have opened are barely able to make operating expenses, let alone profit. As I think about all the favorite local places I visit, I also wonder what my town will look like with- out these businesses. Some of these places are owned by family friends or people I have met and gotten to know through- out the years. If these businesses tank, will they be forced to leave in search of new opportunities? Or will they have to settle for the yoke of a chain store and no longer be able to add the local flair that enriches the community? Either way, a part of a community dies when homegrown business is no longer sustainable. Space is at a premium and, eventually, some- thing will replace what is lost. I think it is up to us to protect what makes a community a community. So please support local businesses. Apurva Srivastav is a fourth-year KPCOM student. BY APURVA SRIVASTAV Speaking Up for Local Business PATRON Apurva Srivastav A business that depends on the community ends with the community— and our neighbors are struggling.