Garner Holt Challenges Fellow Small Business Owners to Pay Rent for Small Businesses in Peril

REDLANDS, CA—- Garner Holt issued a challenge to other small business owners to pay the rent for small businesses in their communities that may be on the verge of failing as a result of COVID-19. In a video posted to social media Monday, Holt appealed to business owners with the means to do it to support local, non-chain businesses like restaurants and other service-oriented storefronts that are unable to pay rent on May 1.

Speaking of his own business, Garner Holt Productions, Inc. (GHP), Holt recalled the challenges of small business ownership and struggles to keep financially solvent. “I remember having to dump out the Sparkletts jar and count quarters to have pocket money after paying my employees,” he said. “That’s how tough things got.”

Many small businesses were not able to obtain benefits from the recent government stimulus programs, either as a result of confusion over the application process, or a lack of coordination from their financial institutions. Holt said, “We have been blessed with the wherewithal to help some of these local small businesses stay afloat. Missing rent in a few days can mean life or death for a business.”

Some estimates say that as many as half of small businesses in the United States cannot afford to pay rent on May 1 because of the effects of COVID-19. Holt continued, “I’ve decided to pay the rent for a couple of months for several businesses in our community that I know aren’t going to survive. These aren’t big businesses that I know are going to make it. These are the little, tiny businesses that just aren’t going to be able to pull this off.”

Holt issued his challenge to fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners who have been able to benefit from the government stimulus or aren’t facing the same struggles. “I hope they can do what we’re trying to do here in their own communities,” Holt said of these owners. “Your barber, your tailor, your favorite taco place, any of these little places that are part of daily life in your community.”

While not a formalized program or charity, Holt hopes individual business owners will communicate with other businesses to form an informal, community-based network of help. “We’re all in this same boat together,” Holt said. “We need to help our fellow small businesses say above water.”

To hear a word from Garner, click here.