CHESTER – A year ago, the COVID 19 pandemic upended daily life, shuttering small business and putting millions out of work.
But that did not stop Frank and Eileen Frasca from opening a restaurant, Twins Eating House in Cornwall, last summer.
“It’s been tough. We’ve been 50 percent capacity the whole time,” said Eileen Frasca. “People just don’t want to come out. It’s tough to maintain enough revenue to sustain yourself when you have to keep the majority of your staff on board despite how many people are coming in your doors.”
Frank and Eileen Frasca joined Assemblyman Collin Schmitt [R, New Windsor) and other small business owners at the Castle Fun Center, at family entertainment venue, to commiserate about the past year and hopefully profit from a stronger 2021.
“At the state level, we need to roll back the existing restrictions. Restaurants at 50 percent capacity, they cannot succeed,” said Schmitt. “Full operations. Enough is enough here.”
Schmitt is calling for fewer restrictions on the state level and more money from Albany to help small businesses, like the Frasca’s fledging restaurant.
“The state needs to get out of the way. We need to use state settlement funds, $1.5 billion, which is available,” he said. “That money needs to be put into a small business grant relief program.”
The Frasca’s restaurant is headed to its one-year anniversary as a part-time business, and they are hoping 2021 will end much better than 2020.
“We have too much at stake to fail,” said Eileen Frasca. “We are trying to personally float business, but we can’t do so for very much longer.”
