{"id":6077,"date":"2021-02-06T06:30:14","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T16:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=6077"},"modified":"2021-02-06T07:00:47","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T17:00:47","slug":"hawaii-chamber-of-commerce-releases-pulse-of-business-survey-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2021\/02\/06\/hawaii-chamber-of-commerce-releases-pulse-of-business-survey-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii Chamber of Commerce Releases Pulse of Business Survey Results"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

by Jim Bea Sampaga<\/em>

<\/strong>Two in three Hawaii businesses are experiencing severe declines in revenues, according to a recent survey by Hawaii Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Omnitrak.

With the support of Central Pacific Bank Foundation, the \u201cPulse of Business\u201d report surveyed more than 300 Chamber of Commerce members and it revealed that business average revenues fell to 45% from 2019 to 2020.

Sherry Menor-McNamara, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii CEO, said that the survey presents valuable information that shows Hawaii\u2019s \u201clong road to recovery.\u201d

\u201cThis is not the time to place added burdens on our business community,\u201d said Menor-McNamara.

\u201cInstead, we need to work together to find new solutions to keep our local businesses alive until we see a full economic recovery from the effects of this pandemic.\u201d\u00a0

Almost half of Hawaii businesses laid off workers due to the reduced revenues. One out of three workers were laid off in 2020. Neighboring islands had even higher numbers with five in nine employees laid off because of the lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report also notes that \u201cthis number would have been higher if businesses had not received federal Paycheck Protection Program funds.

As the unemployment rate continues to rise, three in five Hawaii businesses shared they can\u2019t afford to pay any additional unemployed insurance in 2021. 94% of respondents say they favor the unemployment tax relief.

The pandemic greatly affected Hawaii\u2019s tourism industry, impacting not only the local economy but also the number of employed residents on the islands.

Among the businesses surveyed, only 12% were in the tourism industry but respondents highlighted that \u201cthe drop in visitor arrivals as by far the single most important factor impacting employee cutbacks.\u201d

When asked about their future, respondents believe that their businesses and local economy have recovered by April 2022.

Moreover, nine out of 10 businesses surveyed \u201cexpect to still be in business in the next six or 12 months, and event out to the next two years.\u201d

The Chamber recommends that the government increases its efficiency and provide more financial relief to small businesses. The respondents also added that promoting buying local is \u201can essential part of Hawaii\u2019s recovery.\u201d

So, what can the government do to help?

The report outlines that assistance programs such as grants, and rent and lease forgiveness are a great help to businesses. 79% of businesses also vote for the State Legislature\u2019s plan to align the tax treatment of PPP funds with the IRS.

But most importantly, strictly enforcing COVID-19 protocols and safety guidelines is a must.

The survey notes that businesses would like \u201cto see restriction lessened on businesses and highlighted the need to develop a strong testing program and a reformed quarantine program.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jim Bea Sampaga Two in three Hawaii businesses are experiencing severe declines in revenues,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,4,11,5],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?fit=900%2C500",900,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?fit=300%2C167",300,167,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?fit=640%2C356",640,356,true],"large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?fit=640%2C356",640,356,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?fit=900%2C500",900,500,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?fit=900%2C500",900,500,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?resize=900%2C500",900,500,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?resize=870%2C500",870,500,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?resize=600%2C500",600,500,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?resize=600%2C500",600,500,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?resize=900%2C500",900,500,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?resize=800%2C500",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?fit=900%2C500",900,500,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?resize=540%2C285",540,285,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?resize=375%2C250",375,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Featured<\/a> Features<\/a> Hawaii - Filipino<\/a> News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hawaiichamberofcommce.png?fit=900%2C500","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6077"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6078,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077\/revisions\/6078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}