North Las Vegas businesses struggle as aid trickles in

Jose Gonzalez’s small, family-owned business has been struggling for months, since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in March.

The Mexican restaurant, El Menudazo, located near downtown North Las Vegas, has lost 60 percent to 70 percent of its revenue from the pandemic — and it is operating at 25 percent dine-in capacity, said Gonzalez, who works as a manager there.

Most North Las Vegas small businesses are facing similar issues. At least 86 businesses have reportedly closed temporarily and seven reported they closed permanently, according to city officials, although, the actual number of permanently closed businesses is likely higher.

“My mom is the owner and I help her run the restaurant. We were talking about closing because we didn’t get any help,” Gonzalez said. Luckily, they were able to secure an $80,000 loan through the Small Business Administration, but they aren’t sure it will be enough to last through the end of the coronavirus pandemic, he added.

The loan will go to paying their employees and with business down, Gonzalez is keeping his workers busy with renovations such as repainting the building.

“They only have one job — working at the restaurant. They have family, too, so we try to keep them busy,” he said.

On top of dwindling business from the coronavirus, many still have to invest in making sure their stores are compliant with coronavirus guidelines.

Some aid has been funneled to the city since the start of the pandemic, but city officials are advocating for more federal funds from the CARES Act, passed by Congress in March.

Aid, in the form of loans, has come to nearly 1,000 businesses that were able to receive small business loans of up to $150,000 through the Paycheck Protection Program, according to recently released data. About 170 North Las Vegas businesses were able to obtain loans of more than $150,000 through the program.

Last week, the Clark County Commission voted to allocate $23.8 million in CARES Act funds to North Las Vegas.

On Wednesday at the City Council meeting, city staff will present plans of how to allocate those funds to child care, utility forgiveness and loans for small businesses, City Manager Ryann Juden said.

But those funds aren’t enough to cover the needs of residents, said Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown, who has been advocating for the state to release CARES Act funds to the city.

“If we don’t get that additional funding that means we are cutting programs for North Las Vegas residents,” she said, adding she was appreciative of all the funding that has been given to the city thus far. Direct allocation of CARES Act funds was passed to the city from the county, but North Las Vegas should have received more from the state, she said.

“We don’t understand why it didn’t come directly to us,” Goynes-Brown said.

Contact Alex Chhith at achhith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0290. Follow @alexchhith on Twitter.