Government Shutdown Is Hurting Franchisees: Fat Brands CEO
*By Christian Smith*
As the partial federal government shutdown enters enters its 27th day, American businesses are beginning to feel the strain.
For Fat Brands Inc. ($FAT) ー which owns a number of fast food brands Fatburger, among them ー the consequences of the shutdown are slowly trickling up to corporate, but president and CEO Andy Wiederhorn said franchisees are thus far bearing the brunt of the shutdown.
"I think it's really much harder on the franchise operators because they're trying to build stores they've already started to build, or they've got a lease signed up and now they need their loan to get going for construction," Wiederhorn said Wednesday in an interview with Cheddar.
With the Small Business Administration closed, small businesses are unable to access SBA-backed loans. The SBA usually manages over 300 loans each day, which [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/01/11/congresswoman-calls-trump-restart-small-business-lending-level-anxiety-is-unprecedented/?utm_term=.f50572777f74) reported amounts to roughly $200 million worth of loans for small and midsize businesses.
Small business owners in need of capital during the shutdown must turn to other sources of funding, such as non-SBA-backed loans, which generally come with higher interest rates.
But Wiederhorn noted that every sector of business ー even the major players ー is experiencing negative side effects.
"It's affecting everybody, not just small business, but large business," he said. "It's really very difficult."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/fat-brands-inc-ceo-explains-how-the-government-shutdown-is-impacting-americas-small-businesses).
U.S. stocks ended today's session sharply lower on the heels of rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Melissa Brown, Managing Director of Applied Research at Qontigo, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. will begin to impose sanctions on Russia, calling recent troop movement into Ukraine an 'invasion.' Biden and other government officials including from the State Department have begun to classify the Russian troop movement as an invasion after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to two independent Ukrainian areas in an alleged "peacekeeping" mission — which the West considers an act of aggression. Biden said Russia will continue to pay 'an even steeper price' if it continues sending troops into Ukraine. What happens next? Will Putin find a way around these sanctions? Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, joins Closing Bell to discuss Biden's remarks, how the West will protect Ukraine since it doesn't belong to NATO, and more.
Russian lawmakers have given President Vladimir Putin a military force authorization in Ukraine, and President Biden has described Putin's announcement declaring the independence of two provinces within Ukraine and his subsequent deployment of peacekeepers as tantamount to "invasion. David Tafuri, a former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor and Bush State Department official, joined Cheddar News to discuss. "The Ukrainian military occupies more than 70 percent of those provinces still," Tafuri said, noting Putin alleged having a responsibility to defend those regions. "This would put Ukrainian forces and Russian forces right at each other engaged. And that might be how the war starts."
The major indexes ended Tuesday's session sharply lower due to escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Bill Stone, Chief Investment Officer at The Glenview Trust Company, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he reminds viewers that Wall Street doesn't like uncertainty, and more of the recent losses are due to geopolitics than inflation.
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The Retail Industry Leaders Association released a report alleging the safety risks, economic losses, and potential job losses they link to a surge in shoplifting crimes in the United States. Lisa LaBruno, senior EVP of retail operations at the trade organization, joined Cheddar News to discuss the impact of websites that allow for the resale of unverified goods and passing the INFORM Consumers Act to stamp it out. “We need to hold the online marketplaces accountable for being a favored venue for criminals to resell stolen product," LaBruno said. "And that is exactly what the INFORM Act is designed to do."
The East-West faceoff over Ukraine has escalated dramatically, with Russian lawmakers authorizing President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside his country and President Biden and European leaders responding by slapping sanctions on Russian oligarchs and banks.
