BUSINESS & AG
2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2021
Small Business grants fl owing to Oregon restaurant owners
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Han Ly
Hwang is one of almost
1,000 Oregon restaurant
owners who shared a total
of $138 million from a
Small Business Admin-
istration program spear-
headed by U.S. Rep. Earl
Blumenauer and Oregon
restaurateurs.
He owns Kim Jong
Grillin, a Korean barbecue
restaurant in Southeast
Portland.
He was among the
960 Oregon owners — of
38,000 nationwide — that
got shares in the fi rst round
of the program totaling $6
billion. SBA got more than
300,000 applications for the
$28.6 billion that Congress
set aside for the program in
President Joe Biden’s pan-
demic recovery plan. The
applications totaled $69
billion.
Still, after Blumenauer
spent nearly a year crafting
the program with help from
Portland restaurateurs —
and barely 60 days after
Biden signed the $1.9 tril-
lion American Rescue
Plan into law — Hwang
got help from the Restau-
rant Revitalization Fund.
The average grant was
$143,000.
“This is a complete
game changer. For someone
like myself, being a Korean
American, this money
gives me more of an oppor-
tunity to put my culture
fi rst and to really share it
through the food,” Hwang
said Monday, May 17,
during a conference call
sponsored by Blumenauer.
“This is far from over,
but how easy and smooth
(Congress and SBA) tran-
sitioned this program from
being in writing to actu-
ally being implemented
is jaw-dropping. The help
means the world to us. It
means that we’re not alone,
“This is a lifeline that is
benefi ted from the Pay-
and we really appreciate
going to help restore them
check Protection Pro-
that.”
and move forward,” Blume- gram, which Congress cre-
Hwang said the appli-
nauer said.
ated as part of the CARES
cation process with SBA
Blumenauer said he
Act last year, whose loans
averaged
could be forgiven
about 20
if businesses
minutes.
complied with
“The help means the world to us.
Blume-
ever-changing
It means that we’re not alone, and
nauer formally
requirements.
proposed the
Some businesses,
we really appreciate that.”
program in
such as the Los
— Han Ly Hwang, a grant recipient who owns Kim
June 2020
Angeles Lakers
Jong Grillin, a Korean barbecue restaurant in Portland
at $120 bil-
professional bas-
lion. After
ketball team,
a near-miss
returned their
with congres-
money. Congress
sional pandemic legisla-
intends to seek more money and SBA attempted to fi x
tion in December, he was
with the help of Senate
fl aws in subsequent rounds
able to secure $28.6 billion
Majority Leader Chuck
of the program.
for the program in Biden’s
Schumer, a Democrat from
The opposite happened
recovery plan. The pro-
New York who joined the
earlier this year with the
gram accepted applications cause.
initial round of the Shut-
on a fi rst-come, fi rst-served
SBA had initial prob-
tered Venues Program,
basis, although amounts
lems with other programs
intended to help entertain-
were reserved for women,
intended to help small busi- ment venues. But demand
veterans, and racial and
nesses during the pandemic for the $16 billion was so
ethnic minorities. National
and subsequent economic
great that it crashed the
chains are excluded from
downturn.
computer system, forcing
participation.
Some large businesses
SBA to start over.
Blumenauer, on the eve
of the Restaurant Revital-
ization Fund going live on
May 3, said he was assured
SBA was ready to reg-
ister owners and accept
applications.
“You being able to take
on this new project, with
the overwhelming number
of applications received, I
could not be more proud
of what you and your team
have done,” Blumenauer
said to SBA Administrator
Isabel Guzman.
Guzman, who was con-
fi rmed by the Senate for her
job on March 16, said she’s
happy that the fi rst round
of restaurant grants went
smoothly.
“We want to make sure
the message that gets out
there is that the SBA is
there to help,” she said on
the conference call. “The
best thing we could do for
small businesses is to help
them get back to normal.”
AP fact check: Hyperbole from
Biden, GOP on state of economy
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER,
HOPE YEN and CALVIN
WOODWARD
Associated Press
Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP
This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows Lebron James in a scene from “Space Jam: A New
Legacy.”
The blockbuster movie makes
a comeback this summer
By LINDSEY BAHR
AP Film Writer
After more than a year of
benching its biggest specta-
cles, Hollywood is ready to
dazzle again.
From “F9” and “In
the Heights” to “The Sui-
cide Squad” and “Black
Widow,” there will be a
steady stream of block-
busters populating multi-
plexes across the country
for the fi rst time since
March 2020. For stream-
ing-weary audiences, the
promise of air conditioning,
popcorn, soda fountains,
60-foot screens and state-
of-the-art sound could be
a welcome respite from
the living room and vir-
tual watch parties. Not to
mention the ever-romantic
concept of the shared
experience.
For movie theaters, it’s
not a moment too soon.
The modern summer
movie season, which runs
from May through Labor
Day, regularly accounts for
over $4 billion in revenue
and makes up around 40%
of the year’s grosses. Last
year, summer earnings were
$176 million, down 96%
from 2019. Although the-
aters have been ramping up
operations for a while, this
summer will prove to be
the biggest litmus test so far
about whether habits have
changed irrevocably during
the pandemic.
In some ways, the cal-
endar looks like a do-over
of last summer. Many of the
most anticipated releases
were supposed to come
out a year ago, including
John Krasinski’s “A Quiet
Place Part II,” up fi rst on
May 28, the big screen
adaptation of Lin-Manuel
Miranda’s Tony-winning
“In the Heights” (June
11), the ninth installment
of the “Fast & Furious”
series, “F9” (June 25),
Marvel’s “Black Widow”
(July 9) starring Scarlett
Johansson, the Emily Blunt
and Dwayne Johnson action
adventure “Jungle Cruise”
(July 30) and Nia DaCosta’s
“Candyman” reboot (Aug.
27).
“In the Heights” director
Jon M. Chu had to convince
Miranda that it was worth
it to wait for a theatrical
release. Miranda wanted
to get his joyous musical
about a bodega owner,
Usnavi (Anthony Ramos)
and his friends in Wash-
ington Heights out to people
immediately. But Chu
knows just how important
a global release is for fi lms
with underrepresented
casts. Like “Crazy Rich
Asians,” “In the Heights”
features unknowns in key
roles who are poised for
a breakout given the right
platform.
“We had big dreams for
this,” Chu said. “To be able
to do it on the biggest scale
possible meant so much.”
And it’s not the only
blue-sky blockbuster in
the bunch. The “Fast &
Furious” series has always
been about creating a fun
theatrical experience and
“F9” not only brings back a
fan favorite — Sung Kang’s
Han — but also literally
sends cars into space. It’s
expected to be one of the
season’s biggest hits.
“Whenever I get together
with Vin (Diesel) and
everybody to make these
movies, we’re not even
talking about the plot or
anything like that, but the
feeling. I just remember as
a kid in the summer saving
enough money to go to the
movies to share that expe-
rience with a bunch of
strangers,” said director
Justin Lin. “When that
moment hits and every-
one’s laughing or cheering
together, it is magical.”
Now Open for Dine In
Before the pandemic,
going to the movies in the
summer was a ritual. Audi-
ences made up for last year
by screening retro summer
hits at drive-ins. Now it’s
a wild card whether the
promise of an “event fi lm”
will motivate audiences
back to theaters, especially
if something is also avail-
able to watch at home.
“Space Jam: A New
Legacy” director Malcom
D. Lee called his fi lm,
“The epitome of a pop-
corn movie.” The sequel to
the 1996 Michael Jordan
pic fi nds LeBron James
now sharing the screen
with classic Looney Toons
characters.
Those looking for a more
R-rated experience can
thank James Gunn, who
made movie stars out of the
once obscure “Guardians
of the Galaxy,” and now
is out to do the same for
the “misfi t, Z-grade super-
villains” of “The Suicide
Squad.” He had his pick of
DC characters and turned
down Superman for Margot
Robbie’s Harley Quinn,
Idris Elba’s Bloodsport and
John Cena’s Peacemaker.
Gunn looked to one
of his favorite genres for
inspiration: The 1960s war
caper. Think, “The Dirty
Dozen” and “Where Eagles
Dare.”
There are many other
options too, including a host
of big-name documentary
titles, from Morgan Nev-
ille’s “Roadrunner: A Film
About Anthony Bourdain”
(July 16) to Peter Jackson’s
“The Beatles: Get Back”
(Aug. 27). There are family
fi lms, like “Peter Rabbit 2:
The Runaway” (June 18)
and “Hotel Transylvania:
Transformania” (July 23)
and horrors like “The Con-
juring: The Devil Made Me
Do It (June 4), and “Don’t
Breathe 2” (Aug. 13).
Editor’s Note: A look
at the veracity of claims by
political fi gures.
WASHINGTON —
President Joe Biden
and House Republicans
alike are revising history
when asserting that the
new administration set
records in U.S. job cre-
ation — either the best
ever or among the worst,
depending on the van-
tage point. The truth is in
between.
While jobs are steadily
being added as the nation
digs out from the corona-
virus pandemic, the pace
is far from being No. 1
among presidents, as Biden
describes it. But neither
is it the worst in decades,
as Rep. Elise Stefanik, the
newly elected no. 3 leader
of House Republicans,
asserted in recent days.
A look at the claims
Biden: “As a result of
our prompt action to roll
out the vaccine and boost
the economy, we’ve gone
from stagnation to an
economy that is growing
faster than it has in nearly
40 years. We’ve gone from
anemic job creation to a
record of creation for more
— for a new administra-
tion. None has ever cre-
ated this many jobs in this
timeframe.” — remarks
Monday, May 17
The Facts: Not so fast.
He has created the
most jobs in his fi rst three
months than any other
president — about 1.5 mil-
lion — but that’s partly
because the U.S. popula-
tion is larger than in the
past. When calculated as
a percentage of the work-
force, job growth under
President Jimmy Carter
increased more quickly
from February through
April 1977 than the same
Evan Vucci/Associated Press
President Joe Biden speaks with William “Bill” Ford, Jr., Executive Chair-
man, Ford Motor Company, left, as he tours the Ford Rouge EV Center,
Tuesday, May 18, 2021, in Dearborn, Michigan.
ONLINE
For a longer version of this story,
go to lagrandeobserver.com
three months this year.
Since the late 1970s, the
U.S. population has grown
by more than 100 million
people. In ignoring that,
Biden picked up on a trait
of his predecessor, Donald
Trump, who bragged that
the U.S. had the largest
workforce ever under his
presidency and glossed
over the simple fact that
there are far more people.
It’s true, though, that
the economy is growing
rapidly — it expanded at
a 6.4% annual rate in the
fi rst three months of the
year — and is expected
to grow this year at the
fastest pace since 1984.
Biden’s $1.9 tril-
lion rescue package
contributed to the vig-
orous growth but much
of the expansion refl ects
a broader bounce-back
from the unusually sharp
pandemic recession, the
deepest downturn since
the 1930s. Even before
Biden’s package, for
example, the International
Monetary Fund was pro-
jecting U.S. growth of
over 5% for this year.
Biden is also ignoring
a disappointing jobs
report for April, when just
266,000 jobs were gained,
far fewer than expected.
___
Stefanik: “In just over
100 days, we have an eco-
nomic crisis ... we see the
worst jobs report in over
20 years. Unemployment
is up.” — remarks Friday,
May 14
The Facts: Stefanik,
R-N.Y., is way off in
asserting that last month’s
job report was the worst
in decades. It showed job
gains, just not as many as
were expected. And her
suggestion that Biden’s
fi rst 100 days produced an
economic crisis is baseless.
In April 2020, the
country lost 20.5 mil-
lion jobs after much of the
economy shuttered due to
the coronavirus pandemic.
That was by far the worst
monthly loss on record.
In last month’s report,
economists had predicted
that about 1 million jobs
would be added, compared
with the actual 266,000
fi gure. Oxford Economics,
a forecasting fi rm, called
the miss in predictions for
April “one of the largest on
record.”
That’s clearly not the
same as being the “worst
jobs report,” as she put it.
In fact, companies have
added jobs for four straight
months, according to the
Labor Department.
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