Now Reading
Indian American Business Owners Take Notice: Trump’s Re-Election Would Be Bad for Business

Indian American Business Owners Take Notice: Trump’s Re-Election Would Be Bad for Business

  • We entrepreneurs need a plan to get our businesses back. With a long road to recovery ahead, the business community needs a leader we can depend on in the White House. It is clear that Trump is not that leader for us.

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the travel and tourism industry throughout the country, and the hotel business has been particularly hard hit. Few cities in the U.S. have tourism in their DNA to the same extent that Orlando, Florida does. My family owns a hotel and our business has been through downturns and disasters before; we’ve lasted through hurricanes, September 11, 2001, the Great Recession, and other major crises. But this pandemic and its effect on our business has been uniquely painful.

Like so many Indian American hoteliers who left India in the 1970s, my father arrived in the West with $8 in his pocket. After years of working in minimum-wage and dead-end jobs, my mother and father saved up and bought a 26-room motel in Niagara Falls, Ontario. They operated the motel by themselves for over 10 years – living on the property, cleaning and maintaining rooms, and checking guests in and out with little or no staff.  In 1992, after taking a rare family vacation to Orlando, our family decided to relocate and make the city our home. My family has worked hard to establish a successful hotel business in America, from the ground up, through many highs and lows over the years. And my family still works day and night – now with the second generation involved – to keep the business running.

No business can survive without a plan. We plan for the number of staff we employ, the supplies needed to operate, and the costs of replacing equipment and undertaking renovations. Even before COVID-19 shut down huge sections of the U.S. economy, the hotel industry was aware of the impacts to hotels in China and started to prepare.  On our own, and before any government agency told us to, we tried to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for our employees, stocked up on hand sanitizers, and ensured that common areas were cleaned with greater frequency. We knew that every guest who walked in through our door needed to feel comfortable and safe.

But once COVID-19 cases skyrocketed and shutdowns began, it became increasingly clear that the federal government had no plan at all. Even though the business world anticipated an impact from COVID-19, the Trump administration either ignored the risks or was caught completely off guard. The Trump administration learned about the contagion in November 2019 but still couldn’t figure out how to protect American residents and businesses.

The cost of PPE and other supplies surged, and no matter how much we were willing to spend, there was a perpetual shortage of supplies. Hoteliers throughout the state closed down, suspended services, and laid off staff. And though some level of disruption was inevitable, the lack of any plan from the Trump administration worsened a bad situation. While countries around the world have suffered the difficult consequences of COVID-19, much of the world today is in the process of managing their reopening. The U.S. is the only major country still reeling from the virus with no end in sight.  

Trump and his allies have turned a public health measure into a political game, which has cost us dearly in lives, lost productivity, and revenue. By mask use becoming a political wedge issue, so many businesses and their employees have had to needlessly endure the wrath of customers who refuse to follow mask rules set by businesses.

Most responsible hoteliers and restaurateurs required their employees to wear masks from the early days of the pandemic and many encouraged their customers to do the same. My family understood that this was a common-sense way to prevent the spread of a respiratory illness and to instill confidence in our employees and customers. But Trump and his allies have turned a public health measure into a political game, which has cost us dearly in lives, lost productivity, and revenue. By mask use becoming a political wedge issue, so many businesses and their employees have had to needlessly endure the wrath of customers who refuse to follow mask rules set by businesses. This has put both employees and customers at risk, and has needlessly prolonged our national crisis. 

Programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) were designed to help small businesses and there is no question the program has been integral to the survival of ours. We are grateful that the program exists. But the program was rolled out in a manner which caused unnecessary hysteria and uncertainty. The program ran out of funds almost immediately. The first round of loans mostly went to large businesses despite the program being geared towards small business. Many of us went from bank to bank trying to secure a loan. And once my family business was finally able to receive one, we experienced repeated changes in the rules on how we could use the funds. It has been difficult for businesses to plan for the best way to utilize the funds and ensure that they comply with the loan’s requirements.

The Trump administration and the President’s gubernatorial allies have pushed to reopen to maintain a sense of normalcy amidst a global health crisis. But it’s clear that pushing businesses to reopen before the virus is under control will only prolong the crisis. And the longer the virus remains unchecked, the longer its impact will last.  

See Also

Orlando, like other major U.S. tourist destinations, relies heavily on international tourism; in 2018, 6.5% of our guests were international. It might have made sense for the U.S. to close its borders for a period of time to try and stem the spread of COVID-19. But halting the issuance of visas through the end of the year hinders both our workforce and tourists from coming on vacation. And now with the virus out of control, and with no viable plan to stop the spread, it is now that world that has shut its borders to the U.S.  

Finally, the government’s bungled response has not only affected our business, it has affected our families. Like so many Indian American hotelier families, our businesses are led by family members aged in their 60’s and 70’s. They are hard workers who never miss a day of work. And many have chronic health issues that put them at greater risk for serious illness.  For weeks and months now, many of our fellow hoteliers, their family members, and their employees have been stuck at home, confused and afraid as to when it is safe for them to go back to work and tend to their business.  

We entrepreneurs need a plan to get our businesses back. However, no matter how hard we work individually, our efforts can always be thwarted by incompetent government leaders. With a long road to recovery ahead, the business community needs a leader we can depend on in the White House.  It is clear that Trump is not that leader for us. 


Rishi S. Bagga is an attorney and serves as VP and member of a family-owned hospitality company.  He is also a national board member for South Asians for Biden, a grassroots group mobilizing voters for Vice President Joe Biden this November. 

What's Your Reaction?
Excited
3
Happy
1
In Love
0
Not Sure
0
Silly
0
View Comment (1)
  • Very insightful article. It gives an inside look at how businesses, but small and large , have been impacted by the incompetence of government agencies to plan for and extend much needed help in an unprecedented double whammy situation of pandemic and the largest financial down turn since the Great Depression. How will companies like this be able to recover? This administration Does not seem to have a clue!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

© 2020 American Kahani LLC. All rights reserved.

The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of American Kahani.
Scroll To Top