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Nancy Yu has been a staple in San Francisco’s Chinatown for more than two decades. Her shop, Asiastar Fantasy, sells souvenirs, gifts, and cultural items like red envelopes for the Lunar New Year. While she has overcome many challenges over the years, she has never seen anything like 2020.

“Last year was a very difficult time – not just for us in Chinatown, but for the whole city, the whole world,” said Yu.

Their sales have fallen by 80% due to the pandemic. But in the past few months, Yu has been opening her shop several hours a day to be present for the community, even if business remains low.

“We want to send a message to people and finally say, ‘Keep Chinatown open, we welcome you,'” she said. “I think it’s important that we stay open. We want to encourage people and other traders.”

A small business owner in Chinatown, San Francisco

Source: CNBC

The neighborhood has seen a decline due to the lack of tourism not just in Chinatown but in the Bay Area as a whole. In a broader sense, research by Robert Fairlie, an economics professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, shows that Asian-owned companies across the country were hit hardest of all populations by the pandemic last year. According to his study, the number of working entrepreneurs fell by 20% from February to December.

The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce states that in the zip code where most of Chinatown is located, 75% of store fronts were down at some point in the past year. The same zip code also includes the financial district, which is similarly affected due to people working from home. This is comparable to the city average, where 54% of all store fronts were not operational at some point in 2020.

“Covid-19 has had a huge impact on tourism, which is a large part of San Francisco’s income – 25.8 million visitors come to San Francisco [annually]”said Rodney Fong, President and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.” It is painful to see some of these old businesses close. They are pillars of our community. “

More access to help

The latest data from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program through late February shows that Asian-owned companies are lagging behind other demographics in terms of the number of loans approved. In 2021, more than 70,000 loans were granted to Asian-owned companies for a total of $ 3.9 billion.

Filling out the demographic questions is voluntary and therefore incomplete. In total, $ 2.1 million in loans totaling $ 156 billion were granted in 2021, with more than $ 100 billion in aid remaining in the program, which ends March 31.

A street scene in Chinatown, San Francisco

Source: CNBC

Last week, the Biden government announced changes to the PPP to ensure smaller and minority-owned companies have fair access to finance. There is currently a two-week window for companies with 20 or fewer employees to apply for help only.

In addition, the amount of money self-employed and sole proprietorships will have access to will change. This is important as the administrative projects of 70% of these companies are owned by women and minorities. In addition, $ 1 billion will be allocated to sole proprietorships in low- and middle-income areas.

Other changes include enabling PPP grants for those with non-fraudulent previous arrests or convictions for criminal offenses, for those who have defaulted on federal student loans, and for legitimate US citizens who are not citizens, such as green card holders .

Chinatown, San Francisco

Source: CNBC

Minority-owned companies are more likely to be non-employer companies, and proponents say lenders may have had less incentive to lend smaller loans to these smaller companies under the PPP, as written last year. Smaller businesses also don’t always have the established bank accounts or workforce to seek help, a rift that has widened during the pandemic, said Fong of the San Francisco Chamber.

“The pandemic has shown the digital divide between people who have access and the skills necessary to apply for PPP, which is not easy, and those who may have been left out,” he said, adding that the changes are ongoing Continued at PPP PPPs like those newly enacted by the administration will help better reach more owners. “It’s important to give everyone equal access and opportunities.”

When Yu applied for a PPP loan last year, she was initially turned down by a local bank, but was eventually given one. She is now waiting for a second drawing loan. Regardless, a local scholarship she received helped with her rent.

Anti-Asian incidents are increasing

Aside from the business impact of the pandemic, the Asian-American community as a whole faces another painful threat – an increase in violence and racism against the Asian population over the past year.

Between March 19 and December 31, Stop AAPI Hate, an organization tracking anti-Asian incidents, found more than 2,800 reports of racism and discrimination against Asian Americans in the US, including more than 100 against the elderly.

Yu said the threat was on her.

“We want people to know that we are here for peace, we are here for prosperity and for the American dream. We have the same dream. That is why we came to America,” she said.

Despite the challenges for 2020, Yu is making progress. She plans to open a second location in Chinatown next year and sell Boba tea.

– CNBC’s Betsy Spring contributed to this report.

The coronavirus pandemic caused American companies to use the internet to reach consumers, and the same goes for Wendy’s.

According to CEO Todd Penegor, who appeared on CNBC on Wednesday, the digital arm of the fast food chain is well on its way to getting a bigger share of the company’s total sales with the help of its loyalty program.

The company now expects digital to account for 10% of sales in 2021.

“We didn’t think we’d hit 10% by 2024 before the pandemic,” Penegor Jim Cramer said in a Mad Money interview. “We’re bringing a lot of active users to our app and people are getting involved with the app. We’re seeing a lot more mobile orders and that’s really because there is an advantage.”

Wendy’s also found success in the breakfast menu it launched last year. While fewer Americans commuted to the office during the pandemic, which cut their chances of getting a morning breakfast sandwich or coffee at a restaurant, breakfast sales accounted for about 7% of total revenue last year, the company said.

Penegor remained optimistic about competing with other restaurants in the morning rush. He expects the breakfast menu to account for 10% of sales by the end of 2022.

“The breakfast business is doing quite well in the face of the pandemic,” he said. “For us it is remarkable and very encouraging to be able to achieve a sales mix of 7% on our breakfast day. … What we see is a strong repetition.”

On the previous Wednesday, Wendy reported fourth quarter results that missed Wall Street’s estimates of both profit and profit. The company posted total revenue of $ 474.3 million for the quarter, up 11% from $ 427.2 last year, and net income of $ 38.7 million, up 46% from $ 26.5 million. USD. According to FactSet, analysts were looking for revenue of approximately $ 476.6 million and net income of $ 39.9 million.

For the full year, Wendy’s posted revenue of $ 1.73 million, an increase of 1.5% and a decrease of $ 117.8 million, a decrease of 14% from 2019.

US restaurant revenue increased 5.5% for the quarter and 2% for the full year.

Wendy’s shares fell more than 5% on Wednesday to a closing price of $ 20.12.

chee gin tan | E + | Getty Images

The Small Business Administration released a new application and credit calculation formula for Paycheck Protection Program loans for self-employed and gig employees on Wednesday.

For these small businesses, this means larger loan amounts that can be forgiven in the future.

The new PPP application for self-employed and sole proprietorships submitting the IRS Form 1040 Schedule C now asks for the total gross income amount on line 7 of the tax form. Previously, Schedule C applicants applying for PPP loans were asked to report their net income from line 31 on the form to the SBA.

In addition, the SBA released updated guidelines for lenders on how to calculate loan amounts for Schedule C applicants and new eligibility rules for borrowers, including those struggling with student loan debt, not convicted of fraud or business owners who were not citizens.

More from Invest in You:
Lost jobs, no childcare: a year after the pandemic began, women are not doing well
The IRS received 35 million tax returns in a week as Americans raced to file
Smallest businesses can get additional PPP help. What you should know before applying

The government of Biden-Harris announced updates to the SBA program in late February to make it easier for the smallest businesses to access the forgeable credit. At the same time, the administration announced a priority application window for some borrowers. As of February 24, lenders have only processed applications from companies with fewer than 20 employees and will do so through March 9.

However, this has created confusion for some borrowers and lenders. While the priority window opened in late February, the new eligibility rules and updated credit calculation formula for some borrowers didn’t go into effect until the first week of March.

After the SBA publishes the updated sole proprietorship application as well as the tentative final rule with changes to the loan amount calculation and eligibility, borrowers should be able to work with their lenders to submit applications according to the new guidelines. Of course, it will take time for the lenders to process and implement the new information.

The new calculation is important for millions of sole proprietorships, self employed, and gig workers in the United States as it will result in larger unsuccessful loans under the program.

Previously, the SBA used net profit as a substitute for labor costs for companies with no employees, although payroll are different measures.

Additionally, the net income line on IRS Form 1040 Schedule C includes deductions that reduced or eliminated the amount for some, resulting in small loans or making them ineligible for the program. Using gross income – generally a larger number – will solve some of these problems.

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Medical workers move a patient to the intensive care unit of Sotiria Hospital as part of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on March 1, 2021 in Athens, Greece.

Giorgos Moutafis | Reuters

World Health Organization officials said Wednesday that scientists are trying to understand why Covid-19 cases are suddenly popping up in much of the world after weeks of infection.

2.6 million new cases were reported worldwide last week, up 7% from the previous week, the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update, which reflects data received on Sunday morning. That follows six consecutive weeks of declining new cases around the world.

The reversal could be caused by the emergence of several new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus, easing public policies and what is known as pandemic fatigue, where people are tired of taking precautionary measures, the WHO said in its weekly report. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of emerging diseases and zoonosis, said Wednesday during a question and answer session at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva that the global health agency is trying to better understand what is reversing the trend in each region and each Land caused.

“I can tell you that we are concerned about the introduction of vaccines and vaccinations in a number of countries. We still need people to do their actions on an individual level,” she said, urging people to exercise physical distancing practice and continue wearing masks when they are around others.

“Given this week-long increase in trends, it’s a pretty stern warning to all of us that we need to stay on course,” said Van Kerkhove. “We must continue to adhere to these measures.”

Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, suggested the increase could be because “we may relax a little before we get the full effect of vaccination”. He added that he understood the temptation to socialize and return to more normal behavior, but “the problem is every time we did that before the virus took advantage of it.”

Ryan reiterated that the cause of the surge in the cases remains unclear, but added that the tried and tested public health measures highlighted during the pandemic are still in effect.

“When the cases are decreasing it’s never all we do and when they are increasing it’s never all a mistake,” he said.

Ryan noted that deaths have not yet risen with the cases, but that could change in the coming weeks. Hopefully, vaccinating those most severely affected by the disease could prevent an increase in deaths.

While the introduction of vaccines in some countries gives cause for optimism, Ryan noted that many nations around the world have not yet received doses. He said 80% of the doses were given in just 10 countries.

WHO’s remarks are consistent with those recently made by federal officials in the United States. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been warning for days that the decline in new cases every day in the United States has stalled and increased.

In the past seven days, the United States reported an average of more than 65,400 new cases a day, according to Johns Hopkins University. That’s well below the high of about 250,000 new cases per day the country reported in early January, but it’s still well above the infection rate the US saw the summer when the virus swept the sun belt.

“At this level of cases where variants spread, we will completely lose the hard-earned ground we won,” Walensky said on Monday. “With these statistics, I’m really concerned that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from Covid-19.”

“Please listen to me clearly: at this level of cases with spreading variant, we are going to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” she said.