Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, but recent years haven’t been so kind to them. The 2008 financial crisis left Main Street in a precarious position, and now the coronavirus pandemic has left millions of small business owners at risk of not being able to reopen their doors.

Take Andrew Gaouette. At Mutt Waggin’, his pet supply shops in southeastern Massachusetts, he has seen his sales drops 60 percent. The government is offering relief to small businesses through emergency lending programs like the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, but so far, Andrew hasn’t gotten any money. The demand is so great that many owners like Andrew are worried they will never see the benefits.

This week, host Trymaine Lee talks with NBC News senior financial reporter Gretchen Morgenson about the state of Main Street, and what this crisis means for its future.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading:

• Firms with Trump links or worth $100 million got small business loans
• Unapproved online lenders want a piece of the new coronavirus loan program for small businesses
• 'Extremely disappointing' and 'entirely predictable' — slowdowns and lockouts plague second round of PPP

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