With Governor Tate Reeves recently issuing an executive order allowing gyms, barbershops, and salons to reopen, most small businesses across the state of Mississippi now have the ability to open their doors.
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) director Dawn Starns expressed her excitement for Mississippi small businesses on Monday’s episode of The JT Show.
“We are very excited about it, because we think it will help with commerce kind of starting to begin to get back to normal,” Starns, who represents the states of Mississippi and Louisiana, said. “They [small businesses] were so ready to get open.”
The COVID-19 outbreak has taken a major toll on Mississippi’s economy as 99.3 percent of the state’s businesses are considered small businesses. The pandemic has resulted in about half of those businesses closing down, while the other half has had to completely readjust how they operate.
“They sacrificed, and they closed,” Starns said. “Thousands of people have lost their jobs as indicated by the unemployment numbers…but they were always ready to get reopen.”
It was apparent that Mississippi’s economy could not survive too much longer under the stay-at-home order, and Starns gave credit to Governor Reeves for taking that into account.
“The governor has been very pro-business in his approach and very pro-health,” Starns said. “We really applaud him for his approach to things and how he’s handled it. We believe that we will get back to full capacity quicker in Mississippi than maybe other places.”
Watch the full interview with Starns using the video below.
