Naperville chamber survey: 58% of businesses can survive only 5 months or less during pandemic

One business of the 155 who responded to a Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce survey said it has not been affected at all by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The vast majority are struggling with mandated shutdowns causing them to lose revenue and cut back on staffing and advertising, chamber leaders say.

The survey found 13% of respondents are open for business as usual, but 64% have suffered a "significant" loss of business. It found 32% have enough reserves to last for less than two months before they would have to close permanently, and 26% have enough reserves to stay afloat for three to five months.

The chamber conducted the survey during a two-week span, hearing from respondents in a variety of industries, including nonprofit organizations. Half the respondents are small businesses with 10 employees or fewer.

"We wanted to have a survey on a micro-level that showed what businesses up and down Jefferson Avenue in Naperville are really feeling," said Ian Holzhauer, a Naperville attorney and president of the chamber's board.

They're feeling squeezed and uncertain, the survey showed. Holzhauer called the responses sobering. Among them:

• 10% of respondents are on the verge of losing their business "immediately."

• 22% are dealing with supply chain disruptions.

• 33% expect to decrease investment in advertising.

• 44% plan to continue to reduce staff hours.

• 69% anticipate slower sales.

The chamber has been advocating on the behalf of businesses and sharing these data points with elected officials, including Naperville-area U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood from the 14th District, Bill Foster in the 11th and Sean Casten in the 6th, President and CEO Kaylin Risvold said.

On Wednesday, chamber board members paid for a full-page ad in the Daily Herald to gain visibility for survey results and to call for a careful reopening of business activities to prevent "permanent harm to the identity and soul of the Naperville area."

Naperville salon owner Jennifer Alvarez of Refined Beauty is among chamber members feeling the effects of the pandemic. Since the first stay-at-home order began March 21, Alvarez said she has "not made a dime" and has had to tell her three employees to apply for unemployment.

"If I didn't have a husband who's making some money, I would have to close the business," Alvarez said. "It's scary for sure."

Alvarez said her reserves can last about four months.

"We all have a rainy-day fund as a business owner. But our rainy-day fund has turned into trying to fund a monsoon - and one you don't know when it's going to end," Risvold said. "We have reserves for a reason, but nobody planed for this."

Risvold and Holzhauer say they hope the chamber survey data will help advance a conversation about the need to allow for economic activity, with new sanitation practices and protective equipment.

"If local businesses and nonprofits are not permitted to execute their responsible reopening plans," chamber leaders wrote in the ad, "our entire community - employees, small business owners and families - will face catastrophic and irreparable harm."