Thirty-five percent of Wisconsin businesses responding to a recent statewide survey reported they will be forced to close if current conditions persist for more than three months amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey was authored by MadREP in collaboration with its eight county partners and the State’s other eight regional economic development organizations. UW-Oshkosh administered the survey and the results will be shared with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) for the purposes of informing its COVID-19 response. The survey yielded responses from approximately 1.3% of all businesses in the state. Results also showed that among the businesses that responded to the survey 8,795 jobs were lost in the earliest days of Wisconsin’s safer-at-home order, along with losses of $126 million in income, $95 million in inventory, $26.6 million in lost wages and productivity and $404 million in other impacts.
MadREP President Paul Jadin stressed the dire circumstances for Wisconsin businesses. “These data suggest there is an immediate need for relief measures such as low-interest loans and grant funding,” he said. “Businesses need financial support along with increased access to customers if they hope to survive this shutdown period.”