LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — With COVID-19 on the rise, many Valley businesses continue to be affected, especially Latino businesses who say they need assistance to keep up with all the changes.
8 News Now spoke to one group fighting to keep the little guys open.
“Very important to stay open 24 hours if I can, but right now, I can’t,” said Adolfo Ibarra, Don Tortaco franchisee. His eatery is located near Martin Luther King and Craig.
He says the pandemic has brought a lot of change to his business.
“We so scared about that, and we go down in business for the first couple of weeks.”
Through the many Don Tortaco franchises, they’ve tried to share information with each other to comply with the new ordinances.
“A little bit hard to know everything about,” said Ibarra. “We don’t have maybe very much time to learn about computers or something like that. We just know how to work, make some money.”
That’s why the Latin Chamber of Commerce and the Legal Aid Center for Southern Nevada say their goal is to provide all the resources small businesses need in order thrive.
“To help a small business have access to capital, which we had multiple conversations with all of our senators, our congresspeople, SBA, banks, and we continue to have those conversations,” said Peter Guzman, president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce Nevada.
Guzman wants to provide businesses with masks and information on how to get tested.
But it doesn’t stop there. Legal advice is now available.
“If they are small and have fewer than 25 employees, and they have experienced reduction in their income of more than 25% since March 12, then now, they are eligible for our services,” said Noah Malgeri, director of Pro Bono Project at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.
The center has already connected a handful of small business owners with attorneys in the community who offer free assistance.
To see if you qualify, submit an application, and they will review it.
For more information on legal aid, click here. For helpful tips from the chamber of commerce, click here.
