MARYVILLE – To highlight individual social-distancing efforts and give business owners an opportunity to voice concerns, State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) has completed the first round of her small business tour, visiting nine locally-owned businesses within the Metro East region.

“From visiting retail employees to optometrists, every business owner I had the pleasure of meeting with is taking the pandemic seriously and imposing mask requirements, social distancing and deep sanitizing,” Crowe said. “My goal with this tour was to highlight their efforts, while also offering a casual conversation in order to have a better understanding of the effects of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

To invite different perspectives from business owners and employees in all industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Crowe visited:

• Kloss Furniture in Edwardsville,
• Aphrodite Skin Care in Maryville,
• Financial Adviser Dustin Jumper’s Edward Jones office in Maryville,
• Escape Salon & Spa in Edwardsville,
• Behavioral Health Alternatives in Wood River,
• Leiber Vision Center in Alton,
• St. Peter’s Hardware & Rental in Alton,
• Advanced Outsource Solutions in Alton and
• Cleveland Heath in Edwardsville.

“Several of the businesses I visited were approved for PPP loans, which has relieved some financial stress from payroll and other operating costs,” Crowe said. “To ensure our small businesses aren’t held personally liable, I’m now working to facilitate the loan forgiveness portion.”

Every business will be featured with more information from each visit on Sen. Crowe’s Facebook page. Business owners interested in inviting Sen. Crowe to tour are encouraged to apply at www.SenatorCrowe.com/SmallBusinessTours.