W000208
Wednesday, November 07, 2001 6:42 PM
wtc area business
I have just returned from my first trip to Washington DC. I went as a
part of a group of approximately 50 people representing small business
owners in Lower Manhattan. We broke into groups of 5-10 and spoke to
various Congressman to put a face and if necessary introduce the
reality of the disaster in relation to post 9/11 impact on small
business.
The impetus for this trip is that though much assistance has been
trumpeted in the press for "WTC victims". None of the solutions
offered addressed the need of small business. The terrorists chose the
most concentrated business district in America. Garbage Cleanup the
government is addressing. Human loss of life the government can do
little for. The main challenge in post disaster assistance for this
unprecedented attack is business. And the government has not met the
challenge.
Government categorizes small business as 500 employees or less. I call
small business (and so categorize it in this writing) 25 employees or
less. This category of small business is what makes up >75% of the
entire US economy. This category is the backbone of the American
dollar. This category was the invisible skeleton of the body called
Lower Manhattan.
A small business owner, (being told to those who are not one), wears
many hats, does whatever is necessary to keep the operation rolling, is
the equivalent of many corporate departments rolled into one person.
Most small businesses have thin margins, and very tight cash flow. The
drive and stamina of the business owner pushes, on a daily, weekly,
monthly and yearly basis, to provide a living for the owner and the
employees. But there is little room for mistake. There is no room for
interruption in either customers or income. It is a deck of cards that
requires constant attention. And it is these millions of fragile
micro-organizations that keep the economy ecosystem humming.
15,000 of these business exist below 14th St. in Manhattan. 1100 of
these businesses exist in the area immediately surrounding the WTC. 50
of them existed in the WTC. The WTC no longer exists. The area
immediately surrounding the WTC is closed as a crime scene. Peripheral
circles around the area have a fraction of foot traffic, tourism, and
business that existed pre 9/11. Thousands of residents that inhabited
the WTC area were homeless for weeks, and many are beginning to move
out. Each of these three area circles represent a different level of
disaster. All three contain victims of the events. To date, most of
these victims, labeled small business owners, expected direct
financial assistance in order to continue to survive and rebuild, but
got none.
There was a suicide attack. Many died. Now there are wounded soldiers
lying injured. There are various levels of hurt. Some need immediate
surgery, some immediate blood transfusion, some are dehydrated and need
liquids, some bandages, etc.
The commander, aware of the situation immediately dispatches a truck
filled with medical supplies and personnel. It gets to the scene. The
wounded soldiers, professionally trained in self-support, quietly and
patiently await their turn for emergency treatment. And the driver,
lieutenant and medic begin arguing how to administer what to who, when.
Minutes go by. Soldiers begin dying. Some that were simply wounded
begin getting infected. But the argument continues. The soldiers, who
assumed they were getting immediate medical assistance begin moaning,
griping. But the dispatched personnel demand patience that will allow
judicious, responsible disbursement of supplies. And they continue to
withhold the supplies. More soldiers die. Many are beginning to lose
the necessary strength and hope to survive until they get the blood
transfusion.
Small Business owners, are by design a quiet independent, autonomous,
self-healing non-group. A serious clump of them just got attacked by a suicide
bomber. President Bush authorized $20,000,000,000 to assist in their area's
recovery. And the governmental machine in Washington has not
appropriated or disbursed one penny of that yet. They are arguing if,
how, when, what and where. They are playing catch with a blood bag in
front of a soldier who lies at their feet, bleeding to death.
Does one, look down at a soldier bleeding profusely, and begin a scholarly debate
whether it is a waste of effort and blood,
because the guy might end up dying later? Does one hold meetings when
in an emergency room faced with heavily wounded people?
Doctors are trained and board certified for various levels of service.
There is regular medical services, checkups, scheduled operations, and
there is emergency treatment. When in a emergency room faced with many
heavily wounded people one acts fast and professionally, making quick
decisions, hoping and assuming that past training and experience will
guide the process.
Government officials are chosen for various levels of service. There is
regular business. Regular Politics. And there is emergency situations.
The government has, to date, failed to do their job in this emergency
situation. Rather than to act as the experienced professional temporary
healer with quick efficient decisions and assistance, it has provided
noisy distraction, silence of action, confusion, and a horrific
prevention and delay of assistance.
Is this simply a portrayal that nothing can get done without a powerful lobby, even
emergency assistance? Did we elect leaders incapable of acting in due
proportion and diligence to that dealt? Are they really that
short-sighted not to understand the unchecked impact that continues to ripple outward?
Did 9/11 show that our leadership is as generally as weak and
ineffective as it seemed on 9/11?
I prefer to believe otherwise. I think Congressman and senators are
experienced, intelligent professionals. They can focus, and act
quickly. But they live in a cocoon called the Capitol.
Well. NYC downtown small business calling the Capitol. Stop playing
government, and do it for real.
The Feds should set up a fully staffed, with a fully wired-to-government-computer
system office IN downtown NY, exclusively setup to ensure that every
small business that existed before 9/11 gets what it needs (pure,
no-strings-attached grant money to start with) to stay in operation
until this area gets refreshed. That location should be the mother lode that gets all pertinent info, eliminating filling out the same info repeatedly. Directing apropriate programs and solutions to and thru the many well-meaning and diverse assistance organizations. Compiling, directing, dispensing. Rapidly and efficiently. Disaster Emergency Relief. Not anything else.
And do it today. Another soldier just died, and 3 more citizens ran
away.
Hello?
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