LACONIA – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan visited downtown Laconia businesses yesterday and was joined by Laconia Mayor Andrew Hosmer. Senator Hassan spoke to small businesses owners about the challenges that they have faced amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to secure additional relief to help small businesses stay afloat.

Senator Hassan, Mayor Hosmer, and other Laconia leaders, including Justin Slattery, Executive Director of the Belknap Economic Development Council, visited the Colonial Theatre, which is undergoing a $15 million revitalization project that is expected to bolster the downtown economy. The Senator also visited Wayfarer Coffee Roasters and Spyglass Eyewear, where she spoke to the owners about how their businesses have adapted to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Senator Hassan is working to support small businesses in New Hampshire and across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and successfully included bipartisan legislation in the year-end funding bill to allow eligible small employers to both participate in the Paycheck Protection Program and also claim the Employee Retention Tax Credit to help keep workers on payroll and pay for their health care coverage. Previously, small employers could not participate in both of these programs. Following the passage of the year-end bill, Senator Hassan joined Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) in urging the Biden administration to issue guidance to help ensure that small businesses can fully participate in both programs. Additionally, the year-end funding bill included key provisions of the Save our Stages Act, which Senator Hassan cosponsored, to provide grants to live venues and theaters to help these venues retain jobs and keep their doors open amid COVID-related losses.

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