At the end of last year, more than 10 million Americans were unemployed, 3.7 million of whom had suffered permanent job loss amid the pandemic. It’s no secret that so much of that unemployment is a result of the colossal blow the pandemic has dealt to our small businesses.

Only a few months into the pandemic, over 100,000 small businesses closed permanently, and in February, three in 10 small businesses worried they would not make it through the year unless the federal government stepped up to help.Thankfully, the government did step up, and as a result, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. As more Americans get vaccinated, we can slowly return life to the way it was before the pandemic struck; more diners at restaurants, workers commuting, and vacationers traveling will mean more money circulating in the economy and more dollars going into small businesses.

Until we are fully in the clear, though, we need to give small businesses our fullest support. That’s why I was proud t...