Small Business Heroes: Lynn Irish discusses running a small business amidst COVID-19

Maine’s small businesses are an important part of our community and our economy. Many have been hit hard by this COVID-19 crisis, and have faced many challenges in keeping their doors open throughout the year.

Mainers for Working Families contacted local small business owners across Maine to talk about what they’ve done to keep their businesses running and their communities safe, and discuss what is still needed to help them through 2020 and beyond.

Lynn Irish has owned and run Whippersnappers Quilt Studio in Hallowell since May of 2003. Originally participating in craft shows, Lynn decided to expand into quilting with encouragement from friends and fabric distributors.

While Lynn has had staff before, she now manages the store by herself. “I really have two businesses, I have a retail store and I do long arm quilting. So balancing those two things... has always been a struggle.”

When the COVID-19 crisis first began, Lynn was forced to close Whippersnappers.

“When Governor Mills announced that the stores had to close, I basically sat at home and cried for a few days,” said Lynn Irish.

Instead of staying closed, Lynn decided to help her community by moving into making PPE.

“I petitioned the state and was officially deemed an essential business,” said Lynn. “I was working 10-11 hours a day every day for six days a week, and sometimes coming down on Sundays because everything just took so much longer.”

Along with making PPE, Lynn still made time to fulfill retail orders, and received a lot of support from her customers.

“I did have a lot of customers, some who hadn’t been in in a while, call... I kind of scrambled to get more stuff on my website,” said Lynn. “And I got a lot of support from my regular customers.”

Lynn has since reopened her doors. Because her customers are older, she was adamant about following protocol and keeping everyone safe.

“I started enforcing mask wearing before it was a state mandate,” Lynn said.

Her store is now open for walk-ins, but she makes sure that it is kept well below capacity. Only six people are allowed in the store at one time. All customers must be mask-compliant. Lynn keeps hand sanitizer available, and makes sure to wipe everything down.

Lynn faced minor pushback on her mask policies earlier on in the pandemic.

“I feel like Hallowell is being pretty good about it, but there’s always a couple people who don’t want to wear a mask. They just don’t come in,” said Lynn. “

“I think we can only do the responsible thing, and if that means saying wear a mask or don’t come in, then so be it, because we know that’s what works.”

Lynn had plans before the pandemic to downsize her storefront business. Now, with the virus beginning to surge again, she believes it was good timing.

“Given COVID-19, I’m actually glad that I am downsizing, because I think it’s going to get worse again. I’m very worried about what’s going to happen in the next few months.”

As she continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Lynn found the state guidelines she received when Whippersnappers was deemed an essential business to be both helpful and clear. She also relied on the news to guide her decision making.

While she believes businesses should be provided more aid and protection, Lynn is against the push for blanket immunity for businesses who aren’t protecting their communities.

“If a company isn’t willing to take precautions, then they shouldn’t get any protection from liability. I don’t think [immunity] can be a blanket thing,” said Lynn. “If they’re not doing the safety precautions that we know work, then they shouldn’t get immunity.”

With the new year around the corner and many small businesses looking ahead, Lynn believes that we shouldn’t let our guard down.

“I feel like I’ve been vigilant about being safe and keeping my customers safe,” said Lynn. “We should keep taking precautions and stay vigilant.”

New poll shows Mainers support common sense policies, preventing cuts to essential services

A poll released today by Mainers for Working Families shows that a majority of Mainers support the State Legislature implementing common sense policies to help the state recover from COVID-19, even increasing taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, so as to avoid cuts to essential services. The poll also shows overall support of policies like closing corporate tax loopholes and expanding access to healthcare. A majority also believes that the federal government should provide emergency funding to the state.

The poll’s release comes ahead of the State Legislature convening for a new session.

“This poll confirms what a lot of us hear everyday -- Mainers are looking to Augusta for common-sense solutions to help working families stay afloat,” said Evan LeBrun, executive director of Mainers for Working Families. “That comes down to three things: We need to strengthen crucial services like education and healthcare, lower property taxes, and make sure corporations and wealthy people pay their fair share.”

The poll surveyed over 600 Mainers across the political spectrum, with 43 percent identifying as moderate, 27 percent as liberal, and 28 percent as conservative. 58 percent of Maine voters think the federal government needs to provide emergency funding to Maine.

An overwhelming majority of Mainers also support policies like closing corporate tax loopholes (70 percent), providing healthcare subsidies to low-income Mainers (69 percent), prohibiting pharmacies from pricing the most common drugs above their price in Canada (68 percent), and guaranteeing every Mainer has health insurance (66 percent).

When it comes to raising state revenue, 55 percent support Governor Janet Mills placing a wealth tax on Maine’s highest net worth individuals and families. 51 percent also support ending the LePage income tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. Four in five Mainers do not support budget cuts to essential services like health care or education, or hiking up property taxes as a way to supplement revenue.

“[C]ommon sense legislative policies are popular in Maine,” reported Lincoln Park Strategies. Legislators will garner strong support from their constituents, including harder-to-convince cohorts which are not typically viewed as being supportive of these policies. These polling results show strong support for the state legislature to pass these common sense legislative items.”

Small Business Heroes: Nancy & Brianna Bigelow discuss running a safe restaurant during COVID-19

Small businesses make up 99 percent of Maine’s companies, and employ 60 percent of our private sector workers. They are the backbone of our communities, and are crucial to keeping Mainers healthy. Even so, many have struggled during this pandemic due to limited resources and support, and a shortened tourist season.

Mainers for Working Families reached out to some of those local small business owners who have been taking innovative approaches to protect our communities and keep their businesses afloat, to discuss what they’ve done to keep their doors open and our communities safe.

Nancy Bigelow has been the owner of Broadway Deli in Brunswick since 1988. The restaurant business has been a family affair for Nancy. She runs the Deli alongside her daughter, Brianna, and her sons and daughter-in-law run Sweet Pea’s Cafe and the Cup Coffee Shop in Bar Harbor, and Vivo Italian Kitchen in Bridgton.

Prioritizing the health of their staff and community was a paramount for Nancy. Her son Jacob is a cancer survivor, and is immunocompromised.

“Speaking with my boys in Bar Harbor, we were absolutely vigilant... just because of what our family has been through with one of my kids having survived a really horrible form of cancer, so we weren't willing to take any chances whatsoever,” said Nancy.

The restaurant business has been a lifelong passion for Nancy, and when the pandemic hit, she and Brianna were determined to keep their doors open in a way that would keep their community safe.

“My philosophy is I serve my higher power by serving my fellow man. And I feel that food is one of the driving forces of comfort for many of us,” said Nancy.

In the beginning of March, Nancy and Brianna shut down the Deli for two weeks, and had to learn to adjust their business. In the beginning, they kept their staff at home, and focused exclusively on carryout orders.

“For the first six weeks, it was just mom and I. She did everything start to finish in the kitchen, and she didn't have any contact with the public, and still doesn't,” said Brianna.

Brianna and Nancy relied heavily on feedback from their customers, and experimented with their layout and food options.

“We have changed almost daily or weekly what we have been doing – going from serving dinners, to staying open later, to offering alcohol for the first time in this capacity for a while,” said Brianna.

They heard the feedback from their customers, and tested out different ways to run the restaurant.

The Broadway Deli is open every day, except Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They open from 8 AM to 2 PM, providing a variety of breakfast and lunch options. Originally, customers ordered from the front door, which was protected by Plexiglass. They can then take the order to go, or sit at one of the designated outdoor dining tables, which are cleaned between every customer.

Now, Broadway Deli has opened up indoor dining at half capacity. There is Plexiglass between every table. Despite the change, most of the customers are still relying on takeout options.

Face masks are required not just for everyone ordering food or working, but even for the delivery drivers who provide them with their products.

“We had a little pushback in the beginning, so mom decided that for price reasons and for safety reasons, she switched distributors because they weren't wearing facemasks inside [the restaurant].”

Due to the pandemic, they have limited the number of employees coming in to about five. When an employee feels uncomfortable working with people, or if they have an immunocompromised family member, Nancy and Brianna worked to find something for them to do that kept them relatively safe from exposure.

“Our employees are extremely flexible… sometimes they would come in and they would just clean, and we would give them whatever we could and they would do whatever we asked.”

Nancy and Brianna have worked hard to make sure that they balance the costs of staff, food, and disposable paper goods, so that they don’t have to raise the cost of their food astronomically.

“A pandemic is not a time to raise prices,” said Nancy.

They’ve found ways to show their customers support and keep things fun, between offering free cookies at lunchtime, to a pajama party for Brianna’s birthday.

“I think that it’s a balancing act between how do you make this place special and obviously how do you keep your doors open and make a profit?” said Brianna.

When it came to making decisions about their business, the state guidelines provided by the CDC proved especially helpful, as has the grant money that Gov. Janet Mills made available through the CARES Act funds.

“I want the state of Maine to continue to guide us, and as far as this $200 million that she’s put out there for possible grants, I think that’s awesome. I just, I don’t have any complaints about what we are doing as a state,” said Nancy.

As Maine and its small businesses focus on rebuilding from this crisis, Brianna and Nancy have made it a policy to support other small businesses where they can.

“One thing that we have done and that I encourage other businesses to do it, if there are small businesses in town that have such a niche market, like for us [in Brunswick] we have a small family owned gluten free bakery. In the last year, we were really expanding our gluten free baked good options… but ever since this started, we have not wanted to take any business away from that bakery,” said Brianna.

“I respect businesses right now that are staying in their lanes and doing what they do really, really well.”