Puerto Rico’s Positive Business Slogans Can’t Keep the Lights On
- 6 years ago
Puerto Rico’s Positive Business Slogans Can’t Keep the Lights On
A report last year by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found
that four months before Maria, 36 percent of Puerto Rico’s small businesses planned to hire more workers and 50 percent planned to invest in new equipment and technologies.
On Thursday, hundreds of thousand of customers — many in San Juan and along the island’s northern coast — lost power in the middle of the workday.
Nearly a dozen big resorts in and around San Juan — including El Conquistador, the Caribe Hilton, the Ritz Carlton and El San Juan — are closed.
“This is like the perfect storm of an economic disaster,” said Javier E. Zapata-Rodríguez, deputy director
of economic development for PathStone Enterprise Center, which advises small businesses in Puerto Rico.
An electronic sign outside the Condado Plaza Hilton, owned by the Blackstone Group, the private equity firm, periodically flashes: “Rooms for relief work
and government work available.” Blackstone, which also owns El Conquistador, said it had been paying salaries and providing health benefits to hundreds of furloughed workers.
Much of the federal money is being dispensed as grants and loans
that businesses and individuals apply for from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration, among others.
At the upscale Mall of San Juan, two anchor stores — Saks Fifth Avenue
and Nordstrom — are shut because of storm damage, although Nordstrom may reopen in a few months.
“There is not enough capital flowing, and a lot of small businesses are closing up shop because they were ailing before the hurricane.”
A major problem is that insurance claims are being paid too slowly and 60 percent of household requests for federal emergency grants are being denied.
A report last year by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found
that four months before Maria, 36 percent of Puerto Rico’s small businesses planned to hire more workers and 50 percent planned to invest in new equipment and technologies.
On Thursday, hundreds of thousand of customers — many in San Juan and along the island’s northern coast — lost power in the middle of the workday.
Nearly a dozen big resorts in and around San Juan — including El Conquistador, the Caribe Hilton, the Ritz Carlton and El San Juan — are closed.
“This is like the perfect storm of an economic disaster,” said Javier E. Zapata-Rodríguez, deputy director
of economic development for PathStone Enterprise Center, which advises small businesses in Puerto Rico.
An electronic sign outside the Condado Plaza Hilton, owned by the Blackstone Group, the private equity firm, periodically flashes: “Rooms for relief work
and government work available.” Blackstone, which also owns El Conquistador, said it had been paying salaries and providing health benefits to hundreds of furloughed workers.
Much of the federal money is being dispensed as grants and loans
that businesses and individuals apply for from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration, among others.
At the upscale Mall of San Juan, two anchor stores — Saks Fifth Avenue
and Nordstrom — are shut because of storm damage, although Nordstrom may reopen in a few months.
“There is not enough capital flowing, and a lot of small businesses are closing up shop because they were ailing before the hurricane.”
A major problem is that insurance claims are being paid too slowly and 60 percent of household requests for federal emergency grants are being denied.