系列报道三 | 后疫情时代,在困境中挣扎的亚裔小企业亟待重振

0

编者案:本文是九篇系列报道的第三篇。这个系列报道旨在让读者有机会更多了解费城地区不同亚裔社群,关注他们的历史,影响力和面对的挑战。现在,我们比以往任何时候都更需要为亚洲发声。

这一系列报道是新主流传媒公司与费城华埠发展会(PCDC)合作,和Sojourner Consulting协同,并获得独立公共媒体基金会(the Independence Public Media Foundation)的大力支持。

This article is the third of a series of nine stories which seeks to increase visibility and understanding of the diverse Asian American communities in the Philadelphia region and their strengths, challenges and histories. Now more than ever, we must ensure Asian voices have a platform to speak out against the issues impacting our communities.

This series is developed by New Mainstream Press in partnership with the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation and in consultation with Sojourner Consulting, with support from the Independence Public Media Foundation.

 

记者:Eleni Finkelstein

中文编辑:李蓓  吕广伦(实习)

对费城中国城奉天小厨的老板Sunny来说,餐馆关张是个不得已的决定。新冠疫情期间,随着羊肉和鸡肉等肉类成本飙升,Sunny和其它餐馆老板一样,在疫情起起伏伏和不断变化的防疫政策中,努力跟上各种新变化。员工短缺也成了奉天小厨停止营业的一个主要原因,因为奉天小厨当时主打各类烧烤,招个会“烤串儿”的人谈何容易?

Closing down her small Chinatown restaurant, T.T Skewer, was not an easy decision for owner Sunny. With little business due to the pandemic and soaring costs on meat like lamb and chicken, like many others, Sunny struggled to keep up with the changing climate of being a small business owner in Philadelphia throughout the shifting health mandates, COVID-19 caseload surges, and false starts of 2020 and beginning of 2021. Staff shortages also contributed to the shutdown of her beloved business, even after recruiting people from different backgrounds where skewers are not a traditional dish.

停止营业前的奉天小厨,图片由Sunny提供

T.T Skewer before it closed.Photo credits to T.T Skewer

“我们试过在Uber Eats平台上开展外卖服务,但是效果并不好,因为烤串讲究现烤现卖,时间长了会影响餐食的品质。在结束营业之前,这家小店已经开了7年,从刚开始很小的规模,到后来逐步扩大。谁想到新冠疫情一来就扛不住了。对我来说,关店是个很难过的决定。”

“We tried delivery services such as Uber Eats but it didn’t work well because the food quality gets worse when doing takeout. We had run the business for 7 years before closing it. It was a sad decision for me, especially because the restaurant started really small and became better throughout the years, and then the pandemic happened.”

2021年夏天,就在费城暂时回到“常态”之前,奉天小厨停业了。它遇到了很多美国小型企业在新冠疫情期间面临的共同挑战,也有很多挑战是亚裔小企业独有的。在逐步回到疫情前常态的今天,对于幸存下来的小企业主们来说,这些挑战依然在。

Finally, in Summer 2021, as the restaurant scene and city scape resumed a temporary pre-pandemic normal, T.T Skewer closed its doors permanently. Sunny’s experience reflected pandemic challenges of small businesses across the country. Now, in a post-pandemic world, businesses are still experiencing the physical and emotional losses of their businesses, and the ones that remain are facing the reality that even though the pandemic is trickling to a close, they are still facing many challenges.

小型企业一般指10-500名员工的企业,微型企业的雇员则不到10人。小微企业的年收入通常低于25万美元。虽然微型企业是一个不太常见的说法,但在费城13,000家亚裔企业中,90%被归类为微型企业,其中很多是由一个人或者一家人单独经营的。

Small businesses are defined as employing between 10-500 employees. Micro businesses are defined as businesses that employ less than 10 people. They typically earn less than $250,000 annually. While micro businesses is a less commonly used term, out of the 13,000 Asian-owned businesses in Philly, 90% of them are considered micro businesses, with a large amount being independently owned and operated by a single person.

很多小微企业的主人是第一代移民,他们可能不会说流利的英语,没有接受过正式的商业教育,缺乏政府援助和拨款的资源,也不太懂得如何处理与商业相关的公共政策,缺乏资本和银行贷款的人脉。本文采访了费城多个亚裔小微企业,带您了解他们在过去的两年,到底经历了什么。

Out of this population, many are first generation immigrants who may not speak English fluently, have not had formal business training, lack awareness of resources or how to navigate through public systems relevant to businesses, and lack access to capital or relationships with traditional capital sources such as banks and lenders .We spoke with multiple owners of small and micro businesses in Philadelphia to hear firsthand how the past two years have affected, and in some cases, ruined their businesses.

 

巨变中的商业环境

Seismic Shifts

沈燕南是一名来自中国的法律系博士生。2019年10月,就在新冠爆发的前几个月,他和朋友在北费城联合创办了一家名叫CSZ Consulting LLC的法律咨询公司。在这个行业,面对面的服务能更有效地建立企业和消费者之间的信任,而通过网络开展法律服务多少让人觉得不踏实。新冠疫情爆发后,面对面的服务无法正常展开,大家不得不转而通过网络寻求服务,CSZ的整体业务已经放缓,而且这一趋势在短时间之内很难扭转,这让CSZ陷入了困境。虽然房东允许他们分期付清疫情期间的店面租金,但这并无法有效减轻公司的负担。

Bruce Holmes, who is a Chinese law student who works for CSZ Consulting LLC, a law consulting firm in Northern Philadelphia, agrees and notes that the difficulty is compounded by changing norms around in-person services. Holmes founded the firm with his friend back in October of 2019, just a few months before the pandemic. Many clients are uneasy about meeting with lawyers and similar service providers online, as studies show in-person meetings build trust between providers and consumers. Holmes says for CSZ Consulting, the landlord has allowed them to pay back rent from the pandemic months in increments, but even that has proven difficult since business has undeniably slowed down due to the increasing move to conducting business online, which has been a trend difficult to reverse.

在2020年3月费城宣布所有餐厅停止室内用餐服务后,奉天小厨的老板Sunny在近18个月的生意萧条期内,仍然努力支付着店铺的租金,直到2021年7月关门。而对于无法外卖或者送货的店铺,或者只能提供面对面服务的服务行业来说,更是举步维艰。

After the lockdown of all Philadelphia dine-in restaurants was announced in March, 2020, Sunny, the owner of TT Skewer, struggled to pay her business’ rent for nearly 18 months before finally closing her doors in July, 2021. This also was not an option for non-restaurant businesses such as salons and retailers who could not offer their services as a take-out or delivery option.

新冠疫情期间,小企业面临的一个主要困难是店面租金和物业费价格的飙升,对铺面没有所有权的企业主非常被动。宾夕法尼亚大学城市规划和研究专业副教授多米尼克·维迪罗(Dominic Vitiello)说:”是否拥有财产(店铺)所有权对移民企业来说非常重要。“

One major issue businesses have faced is the soaring prices of rent and property costs, and lack of ownership of their spaces.  “Ownership of the property is so critical for immigrant businesses,” says Dominic Vitiello, Associate Professor of City Planning and Urban Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

索马里·奥斯汀恩(Somaly Osteen)是东南亚互助协会(SEAMAAC)的社区发展专家,该组织的65个成员企业散布在费城南七街的区域,其中大约有50%为柬埔寨裔经营的企业。他赞同“店铺租金是商家们遇到的最大挑战”的说法。在65家柬埔寨企业中,只有55%拥有自己店铺,其余约30家企业不得不为了交纳店铺房租奔命。

Somaly Osteen is the Community Development Specialist for SEAMAAC, and agrees that rent prices were the largest complaint of business owners along the organization’s 65-business corridor, which ranges throughout South 7th Street. The corridor is about 50% Cambodian-owned businesses. Of these 65 businesses, about 55% of them own their buildings.

费城南4街商区,图片来源:WHYY

The South 7th Street commercial corridor

Photo credits to WHYY

新冠疫情还切断了许多亚洲小微企业的一个重要客源:留学生。鹿鲜森奶茶店位于费城中国城,老板Fiona来自中国。她在接受采访时表示,中国留学生在疫情期间大幅减少,严重影响了她的生意。有数据统计,截至2019年,费城有超过15,000名国际学生,其中约40%的国际学生来自中国。在美国政府限制中国留学生入境,大部分学校将课程改为线上之后,空空荡荡的不仅是学校的教室,还有昔日受留学生们喜爱的店铺。费城中国城的大部分商家都受到影响,销售业务大幅下降,以年轻人为消费主体的奶茶店鹿鲜森,更是如此。

The pandemic also cut off an important customer base for many Asian businesses: international students.  Bubble tea shop owner Fiona Xu, who is Chinese, recounted how with shockingly rapid speed, her customer base of primarily international students vanished. As of 2019, there were over 15,000 full-time international college students in the city, wirth about 40% of those students being from China. Once schools and universities began transferring their classes to an online format, sales at shops popular with Asian international students such as Mr. Deer the Camp in Chinatown and other dessert and drink shops saw significant drops in business.

位于中国城的鹿鲜森奶茶店,图片由商家提供

Bubble Tea Shop – Mr Deer the Camp in Philly Chinatown.Photo credits to  Mr Deer the Camp

不过所幸的是,随着人员入境政策的放开,大学实体课程的恢复,现在,仰仗留学生消费的小微企业们,生意开始慢慢好转。

Now with college campuses returning to normal in-person schedules, business has slowly started to pick back up again. Business for bubble tea shops comes primarily from younger consumers, so a return to in-person classes has been beneficial for Xu.

那段“非常”时期,对于小微型亚裔企业来说非常难。Sunny在回顾奉天小厨停业过程时说,“我们一直想做促销活动,但是资金有限”。

During unprecedented times in business management, especially for small Asian-owned businesses. “We always think about making a promotion such as giving coupons or putting up ads but don’t quite know where to start.” says Sunny, looking back at the process of closing her restaurant.

Sunny在申请政府援助时也遭到拒绝。奉天小厨是夫妻店,不符合有关标准。”像我们这样的小餐馆,在这次疫情中并没有得到很多帮助。你必须符合申请标准,比如一定数量的员工,才能从政府那里获得经济援助和资源”。

Sunny, who worked in the restaurant industry, was also turned away from financial assistance. As a restaurant owner, Sunny still did not meet the qualifications for assistance, which could’ve saved her business. “Small restaurants like us do not receive a lot of help in this pandemic. You have to meet some standards, such as a certain number of employees, to get better resources from the government.”

PPP小额贷款是美联储在新冠疫情期间提供给中小微企业以贷款形式的薪资保障计划。按照计划,美联储给支付工人工资困难的中小微企业提供薪资保障贷款,以保证工人工资的正常支付发放。以PPP贷款为例,虽然”任何拥有500名或更少员工的小型企业”都有资格申请,但需要提交额外文件,比如企业总收入和员工薪资报告。

The PPP loan states it is available to “any small business with 500 or fewer employees,” but other documentation, such as reports on gross income and employee salary are also needed.

法律咨询顾问沈燕南说,并不是每个企业都有资格申请企业救助,那些最需要帮助的企业往往不知道从哪儿可以获得帮助,很多企业也不符合申请救助的条件。每个企业在申请政府救助时都会面临不同的难处。

Bruce Holmes says that not every business qualifies for assistance, and the ones that are struggling the most do not know where to access help nor do they meet the qualifications for it. Holmes also noted that certain businesses had unique challenges in receiving government aid.

CSZ法律咨询公司,图片由沈燕南提供

CSZ Consulting LLC. Photo credits to Bruce Holmes

沈燕南说,作为一个经营不到两年、员工不足5人的小企业,CSZ就在申请企业救助时碰了壁,因为公司在疫情之前开业不到一年,没有足够的文件和数据来说明疫情前后的收入差异。当他们向费城华埠发展会(PCDC)求助时,才得知自己的公司根本不符合任何非营利组织或政府援助的条件。”这些企业救助对我们帮助并不大……而且对小公司很不公平。”

As a small business of less than 2 years in operation and less than 5 employees, Holmes said that CSZ Consulting did not meet the requirements for extra financial support during the pandemic. Since they were open less than a year prior to the pandemic, they did not have enough documentation to report on revenue and income. When they reached out to the PCDC for help, they were faced with the tough reality that they were not eligible for any nonprofit or government assistance.“This is not very helpful to our business…I think it’s very biased.”

根据一项小型企业信贷调查,大约有20%员工少于500人的小型企业在申请PPP贷款时遭到否决,其中4%的企业除了老板之外只雇用了一个人。许多被拒绝的原因是收入报告不充分,这些企业中,很多都成立不足两年。

According to a small business credit survey, about 20% of small businesses with less than 500 employees were rejected for a PPP loan, and of this, 4% were businesses that employed only one other person besides the owner. Many rejections were due to insubstantial reporting of revenue, since many businesses were less than two years old.

鹿鲜森也在第一次申请时PPP时遭到拒绝,因为奶茶店在一年前才开始营业,他们没有足够的资料证明疫情前后的收入差。虽然幸运的是,鹿鲜森奶茶店最终还是申请到了PPP贷款,但老板Fiona 认为在顾客已经改变消费习惯的情况下,PPP不足以让店家维持生计。他们也使用了一些费城华埠发展会(PCDC)提供给中文商家的资源,比如申请户外用餐区的许可证等等。

Fiona Xu did not qualify for PPP the first time applying since the bubble tea shop had only opened a year prior and they did not have enough information to prove their revenues before and after the pandemic. Xu received the PPP loan for her business finally, but claimed it was not enough to keep them afloat against customers changing their consuming habits. They also utilized resources provided by the PCDC, who helped Xu and other Chinese-speaking business owners with applications for different permits, such as an outdoor dining permit, during the pandemic.

 

隔绝在主流环境外

Isolation from Mainstream Systems

东南亚互助协会 (SEAMAAC)的社区发展专家奥斯汀恩谈到帮助企业向该组织申请贷款时说,很多移民企业的收入并不会显示在账面上。对于一些习惯于非正规经营的移民企业来说,一个比较常见的做法是瞒报部分收入,以避开政府税收。这些在企业申请贷款和拨款,需要收入证明文件的时候,就成了一个大问题。

For some immigrant-owned businesses who are used to operating in a more informal economy, a common practice is to keep some revenue purt away and not report it on taxes. This in turn becomes an issue when businesses needed to prove revenue and income for loan and grant paperwork. “There is a lot of hand-holding when it comes to small businesses,” says Osteen about helping businesses apply for loans with SEAMAAC, “it [income] is in the lock box, it’s not paper.”

东南亚互助协会 (SEAMAAC)的社区发展专家奥斯汀恩(左)

图片来源:WHYY

Somaly Osteen from SEAMAAC (left).Photo credits to WHYY

张大帆是林肯大学(Lincoln University)的创业学教授,他自己也是一名律师并在DelCo旗下开了一家提供汽车服务的店铺。他说,把自己隔绝在经济援助网络之外,可能是小企业主寻求援助的最大阻碍。企业主有时需要向社区或者是企业组织寻求支持,才有可能获得帮助。

Dafan Zhang, who is a professor of entrepreneurship at Lincoln University and a lawyer and small-business entrepreneur himself of a car service shop in DelCo says that this isolation from financial support networks is likely the biggest obstacle in the way of business owners seeking financial assistance.The challenge is for business owners to find support within their social groups and communities that allow them to access assistance.

林肯大学创业学教授张大帆,图片由本人提供

Dafan Zhang, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Lincoln University.Photo credits to Danfan Zhang

“与其说是因为语言不通,还不如说是文化障碍……因为人很难与不了解自己文化的人建立信任”。张大帆教授表示,许多亚裔小微企业主更喜欢用母语进行沟通,这也让费城一些提供财政扶持的机构无从下手。

“It’s more of a cultural barrier than a language barrier…it’s hard to build trust with someone who doesn’t understand your culture,” he says. According to Zhang, many Asian business owners prefer to communicate in their native language and with people they can comfortably talk to, which eliminates some of the larger Philadelphia organizations offering financial support.

身为一名律师,张大帆说,因为缺乏买卖合同文件,在为一些亚洲企业提供的贷款和资金支持时,很难向上级机构和税务部门上报。

As a lawyer, Zhang says these deals made with other Asian business owners of loans and funding are then hard to report to higher organizations and even for taxes because of the lack of documentation leading to these deals. “These are handshake deals or IOU’s in large amounts of money.”

斯蒂芬尼·米歇尔(Stephanie Michel)是北五街振兴计划组织(North 5th Street Revitalization Project)的主任,该组织致力于增加Olney地区北五街的商业客流,其中包括许多韩裔经营的企业。

Stephanie Michel is the Director of the North 5th Street Revitalization Project, an organization dedicated to increasing commercial traffic along North 5th street in Olney, home to many Korean businesses.

斯蒂芬尼·米歇尔,图片来源:shopnorth5th.com

Stephanie Michel.Photo credits to shopnorth5th.com

米歇尔指出,新冠疫情期间,许多亚洲小微企业在获得相关资讯和资源方面非常辛苦,因为他们不知道该去哪里找,很多企业主都是通过口口相传来获得资讯。许多年长的企业主也不知如何使用网络资源来获得援助。由于政府援助项目的政策变化极快,口口相传并不是有效的方法,尤其是当企业不再实体营运的时候。”大家获得和分享资讯的传统方式已经不管用了。”

Michel noted that during the pandemic, many Asian owners struggled to access information and resources because they did not know where to look.  “It takes word of mouth,” to spread information, she says. Many older business owners also could not navigate the online formats to get assistance. However, since government turnaround for assistance programs happened fast, word of mouth was not as effective, especially since businesses were no longer operating in-person. “Our usual means of accessing and sharing information was completely taken away.”

“费城逐渐成为更多移民的城市….但是在新冠疫情期间,费城提供移民企业的资源是不平衡的”,宾夕法尼亚大学城市规划和研究专业的副教授多米尼克·维迪罗(Dominic Vitiello)说,“ 哪些费城市政府机构或非营利组织在为移民企业或一般小型企业提供资源服务,一向不是很明晰……一些企业被隔离在这些资金和资源网络之外。”

“Philadelphia is becoming more of an immigrant destination….and over that time support for immigrant businesses has been uneven,” says Vitiello. “It’s not always clear which city agency or which nonprofits are leading support services for immigrant businesses or for small businesses in general..some [businesses] are isolated from these networks for funding and sourcing.”

反亚裔仇恨和政治驱动的恐惧也让亚裔小微企业很受伤,特别是那些以非亚裔为主要消费群体的企业。早在2020年1月和2月,中国城商店和餐厅的营业额就已开始大幅下降,远远早于费城“封城”的时间。奉天小厨的老板娘Sunny回忆,当时很多人认为来中国城就会感染新冠病毒。

Anti-Asian hate and politically-driven fear that stemmed from the pandemic also played a factor in hurting businesses, especially those that catered to demographics outside of just Asian consumers. Business owners noticed a drop in business in Chinatown stores and restaurants back in January and February 2020, far before anyone even considered a lockdown. Sunny followed up with the point that people believed you could get infected with the virus by coming to Chinatown.

2021年11月30日,费城“反歧视、反暴力”正义游行集会

图片来源:《海华都市报》

即使在商家重新营业之后,收入的成长依旧很慢,因为中国城仍是一个比较“敏感”的地方。Sunny说,在2020年夏天商业和人流开始回归的时候,”黑命贵运动又开始了,因为有一个警察局,中国城附近发生了骚乱”。在这期间,韩裔企业遭到的打砸抢尤其严重,许多商家不得不投资购置防弹玻璃和其他安保设备,以避免其业务受到进一步损害。

The slow pace of business did not stop there, since even when businesses could open back up, Chinatown was still a sensitive area to travel to come the summer months of 2020 with riots starting up. “We did come back and run the business again after a short while of closure,” says Sunny. “But the Black Lives Matter movement began [and] there were riots near Chinatown because there’s a police station nearby.” Korean businesses were especially hit hard with looting, and many had to invest in bullet-proof windows and other protective equipment to avoid further damage to their businesses.

 

谨慎乐观的未来

Cautious Optimism

随着2022年春天,费城新冠防疫政策的逐步放宽,商家们也希望生意能够重新好起来。

Now as we approach Spring of 2022 and the rescinding of all but federal mask and vaccine mandates in Philadelphia, owners are hoping businesses begin to flourish again.

位于南七街的Ashrey’s Beauty Salon是一家只有一个员工的美发店,店主婕妮·张(Leanghiek Cheung)是一位来自柬埔寨的移民。她在接受采访时表示,美发店的生意正在逐渐回暖。虽然有些顾客仍因为疫情而不敢进店消费,她还是很感谢东南亚互助协会(SEAMAAC)和费城政府提供的PPP和EIDL贷款,使她的小店能在疫情期间“活”下来。为了保证顾客的安全,美发店目前仍然保留着社交距离和戴口罩的规定。

Leanghiek Cheung,the owner of Ashrey’s Beauty Salon, a single-employee-owned hair salon on South 7th Street says, she has begun seeing traffic slowly pick back up in her business. While some customers still have slight hesitations because of Covid-19, she is thankful to SEAMAAC and the local government for providing PPP loan and an Economic Disaster Loan (EIDL) so she could remain open throughout the pandemic months. T. As a precaution, the salon has retained a distancing and mask policy.

婕妮·张, 南7街的的Ashrey美发店老板,图片由本人提供

Leanghiek Cheung,Owner of Ashrey’s Beauty Salon at her S 7th Street location.Photo credits to Leanghiek Cheung

不过,在后疫情时代,新的挑战也不断涌现,特别是经营肉类、农产品和燃料等产品的企业。产品和原材料的通膨导致许多企业在重新获得客户还是提高价格的选择中举棋不定。这个“两难”已经成为全美范围内很多小企业面临的新问题。

Some owners are still struggling, especially with the rising costs of products like meat, produce, and fuel. The inflation on products is generating a problem because companies that are already struggling to regain their customer bases are hesitant to raise their prices. This is an issue that has been apparent for all small businesses across the nation.

此外,劳动力短缺也成为普遍问题。许多人因为低薪和过长的工作时间而不愿再次进入服务业。企业们也不知道从哪里获得资金来提高员工薪水,因为几乎所有新冠疫情相关的政府贷款和补助金都已经到期。亚裔企业在用工方面更是难上加难,因为他们希望能雇佣到相同语言或文化背景的员工。

Furthermore, a labor shortage is happening across the country, with many people refusing to re-enter the service industry due to low pay and long hours. Owners of businesses do not know where to get the funds to increase employee compensation, since nearly all covid-related government loans and grants have reached their expiration date. Asian businesses have faced similar challenges, and some take on the additional challenge of wanting to recruit workers within their language or demographic.

一些组织正在大开脑洞,在后疫情时代为小企业提供更多的帮助。东南亚互助协会(SEAMAAC)努力帮助其65家会员企业在疫情之后恢复元气,比如在社群媒体上投放广告,拓展非当地的客户群, 并开始着手出版和当地餐厅相关的美食书籍。林肯大学(Lincoln University)的创业学教授张大帆也正致力于推出一个众筹平台,为小型企业募集资金。

Some organizations are getting creative with the way they will continue to help their businesses thrive in a post-pandemic world. SEAMAAC is also working on helping their 65 businesses thrive post-pandemic by advertising them on social media to try and increase their customer base outside of the local community and beginning to publish cooking lessons with recipes from their clients and restaurants. Dafan Zhang is in the works of launching a crowdfunding portal to raise money for small business owners, which he hopes will make a difference in Philadelphia’s small and micro business landscape.

根据2017年的统计数据,小微企业占费城经济总量的99.7%,它们是这座城市的中流砥柱。因此,关注小微企业在新冠疫情期间和后疫情时代所面临的挑战至关重要。每个企业都曾遭遇各种“狂风骤雨”,但是“风雨过后,总会见彩虹”。

According to the statistic tied to 2017 research, small businesses Serves 99.7% of Philadelphia’s economy as the core of the city, which is why it is vital to examine the problems they have been facing both during the pandemic and now. Every business faces their own unique challenges through operation, with property ownership, labor shortages, and language barriers being a common dilemma for many. Despite these hardships, business owners hope to come back stronger than before.

正如北五街振兴计划组织(North 5th Street Revitalization Project)的主任斯蒂芬尼·米歇尔(Stephanie Michel)所说,”亚太裔企业非常有韧性,这些经过疫情仍然生存下来的企业,就是最好的证明。”

Michel concluded, “Our AAPI businesses are very resilient, and I think still surviving [after] covid is a testament for that.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here