Most small business owners in the U.S. believe the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is still ahead of them, with half saying their operations would permanently close within a year unless the business environment improves, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said yesterday, Reuters reported. A new U.S. Chamber-MetLife poll of small businesses taken from Oct. 30-Nov. 10 showed that 74 percent of the owners said that they need further government assistance to weather the pandemic. That percentage rises to 81 percent for minority-owned businesses. The quarterly poll found that the 62 percent of small business owners fear that the worst is still to come with COVID-19’s economic impact. Only 40 percent said they believe their small businesses can operate indefinitely during the current business environment.
