Businesses across metro Atlanta are feeling the blues from the prolonged snow days this week.
“Construction is at a standstill because we cannot get manpower and material to the job sites,” said T.R. “Ted” Benning III, owner of Smyrna-based Benning Construction Co. “Even on our indoor jobs we have run out of materials dues to the roads being closed. All in all we'll loose over $1 million in sales. This equates to about $30,000 in state sales tax that will not be paid.”
And a loss of over $500,000 in wages to employees, he said.
Meanwhile, entrepreneur Sean Lupton-Smith is trying to keep the three restaurants he owns in business: Fishook Grille in Atlantic Station and Roswell, and Café Nineteen in Atlantic Station. Because he lives near Atlantic Station, he is offering his home as a place for workers to sleep and a 4×4 vehicle to shuttle workers to the Roswell restaurant.
But, he said while it’s irresponsible to require people to go to work, “even the gutsy folks are not rewarded since there is no business out there.”
He’s planning to offer limited menus, and if there isn’t business, to have the crews do a “deep clean.”
Still, he said, at the end of the month, when the bills come in – rent and insurance and others -- he won’t get a discount for the snow days.
“We work on about a 10 percent profit margin during the good economic times, and we are open 30 days a month. Therefore three days closed or very slow, and the entire month is lost. And more than that – disaster. This is a real challenge for us.”
And then there's the taxi cabs:
“We’ve been closed, basically, since Sunday night,” said Bradley Stone, owner of the Buckhead Safety Cab Co. “We don’t have cabs on the streets. It’s too dangerous.”
But he does have a dispatcher answering the phones – mostly because her car got stuck half a mile from work when she tried to go home Sunday night. So she’s been stuck at the Buckhead office ever since.
Fortunately, he said, she can get food from a nearby Waffle House that has stayed open, and from a vending machine.
He said the lack of business hurts the drivers the most, because they are independent contractors.
“They have to be out there working to feed their families. If they have no work, there’s no income coming in. It’s an unfortunate situation, but it’s out of everyone’s control.”
He said Mondays and Tuesdays usually are busy with business travelers, but that business was lost.
But, he said, the conditions truly are too dangerous for the drivers.
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