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Back to Business

What is the future of America’s small businesses?

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How some entrepreneurs weathered the pandemic

by David Brancaccio and Erika Soderstrom
Sep 29, 2021
Businesses have had to adapt to being fully online, and that has opened of a variety of opportunities.
Pivoting to online during the pandemic has opened up different paths for businesses to flourish.
Getty Images
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What's happened to the lunch places in office neighborhoods?

by Marielle Segarra
Sep 21, 2021
More than 18 months into the pandemic, Marketplace's Marielle Segarra checks in with restaurants usually dependent on office workers.
A restaurant employee looks at empty tables on Aug. 21, in Southampton, New York. The pandemic has continued to be hard on some restaurants and cafés dependent on lunch crowds.
Stephanie Keith via Getty Images
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A new program aims to help small businesses recover

by David Brancaccio and Erika Soderstrom
Sep 21, 2021
David Brancaccio speaks with Efrem Fesaha and Jasmine Star about the new BackTo.Biz program funded by Howard Schultz.
Small businesses have been required to pivot during the pandemic in order to survive. The BackTo.Biz program helps small business owners do just that.
LeoPatrizi via Getty Images
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The back-to-school shopping season is critical for this small business

by David Brancaccio , Rose Conlon and Daniel Shin
Aug 5, 2021
Nneka Brown of Innovative Supplies Worldwide says all-digital education deprives children of the opportunity to learn key skills.
Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images
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How one construction company is navigating labor and materials shortages

by Rose Conlon and David Brancaccio
Aug 4, 2021
The industry's challenges could lead to higher prices for consumers.
Maurice Rahming, who owns and operates O’Neill Construction Group in Portland, Oregon with his wife Ali O'Neill, says the industry's challenges could lead to higher prices for consumers.
Courtesy of O’Neill Construction Group
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How the pandemic altered the art and science of “menu engineering”

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Jul 26, 2021
From QR codes to delivery apps, a menu specialist weighs in on the rise of digital menus.
A QR code menu for a Mexico City restaurant. “Here in 2021 … we can start to build our digital menus a little bit better with what we learned from the pandemic,” says menu engineer Sean Willard.
Photo by Claudio Cruz/AFP via Getty Images
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Businesses are re-opening at a frenetic pace, Yelp finds — especially where vaccination rates are higher

by Mitchell Hartman
Jul 23, 2021
Where there are lower vaccination rates, there’s less consumer interest.
A man walks past a restaurant with an illuminated "Open" sign on May 5 in Los Angeles.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
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Theme parks likely to keep mobile tech put to the test by the pandemic

by Caroline Champlin
Jul 5, 2021
Face-to-face service isn't completely gone, but visitors are seeing more mobile options to do things like sign up for rides.
Tech advances at theme parks, like advanced ride sign-ups, are likely to outlast the pandemic.
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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How Nebraska's largest Black-owned business is approaching the post-pandemic era

by David Brancaccio and Rose Conlon
Jul 1, 2021
"We are at an inflection point," said Carmen Tapio, founder and CEO of North End Teleservices.
"We are at an inflection point," said Carmen Tapio, founder and CEO of North End Teleservices in Omaha.
Courtesy of North End Teleservices
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Bonuses may be key to enticing people back to the workforce

by Marielle Segarra
Jun 29, 2021
At least 10 states have started offering return-to-work bonuses, as have many employers, as workers look for incentives.
A man fills out an application for a hospitality job during a Zislis Group job fair in Torrance, California, on June 23. Employers at the job fair offered hiring incentives, including a $500 signing bonus.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
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