LEXINGTON, S.C. — Many stores across the Midlands remained closed after Governor Henry McMaster allowed certain kinds of retail stores to reopen.
The South Carolina Governor made the announcement on Monday businesses like clothing, furniture, sporting goods, and other stores were able to open their doors back up.
Otis Rawl, the President and CEO of the Lexington Chamber, says businesses need to reopen soon.
"We've got to get back to work. A lot of small businesses, if they stayed closed for another two weeks or a month, they'd probably never open again," said Rawl.
While stores could reopen, most stores in the Lexington area have not decided to open as of yet.
The President of the chamber says many owners are still working to find out how they can pay their employees.
Some have applied for Payment Protection Loans through the Small Business Administration. If approved, that money could be used to pay employees, rent and other utilities.
The chamber says most businesses remained closed on Tuesday to figure out those logistics.
"There's a lot of small businesses that had their PPP (Payment Protection Program) loans in process and either got processed and didn't get funded or either didn't get into the queue because the money had run out," explained Rawl.
"We just hope that the Feds go back in and fund the PPPs another $200 to $300 billion so that these businesses that were in the queue can get someway to meet their payroll obligations."
The Lexington Chamber talked with business owners to find out what the chamber can do to help them.
The chamber says businesses are either waiting for the Payment Protection Program Loan or finding other means before opening their doors.
Rawl believes Governor McMaster made the right call to allow businesses to reopen when they are able to do so.
"Governor McMaster is showing a lot of leadership. He and his professionals, by using data to drive this process, they feel like there's the need to do things," explained Rawl. "I hear a lot of people criticizing leadership but it's easy to criticize when you don't have a responsibility for making the decision."
Rawl hopes businesses will be up and running and be back to normal as possible by the end of May.