TOMORROW AT 8:00 ON WVTM 13. WE’RE LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY FROM THE END OF THE 90 DAY PAUSE ON TARIFFS, BUT EVEN WITH THE BREAK, BUSINESS OWNERS SAY THEY’RE STILL FEELING THE IMPACT. AS ZOE BLAIR SPOKE WITH SEVERAL LOCAL BUSINESS OWNERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN A ROUNDTABLE HOSTED BY TERRI SEWELL TO DISCUSS HOW THE TARIFFS ARE CAUSING TROUBLE FOR THEM. THIS IS SOJOURN’S FAIR TRADE IN CRESTWOOD. THEY SELL EVERYTHING FROM CANDLES TO JEWELRY, AND 97% OF THE ITEMS IN THIS STORE ARE IMPORTED FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, MEANING THE TARIFFS ARE HITTING THEM HARD. AND IT’S NOT JUST THE BUSINESS OWNER FEELING THE IMPACT OF THE TARIFFS. I LOVE SELLING OUR PROSPERITY CANDLES. MELISSA KENDRICK OWNS SOJOURN’S FAIR TRADE. SHE’S WORRIED ABOUT HER BUSINESS, BUT SHE’S ALSO WORRIED ABOUT THE ARTISANS FROM OVER 50 COUNTRIES THAT SHE USES TO STOCK HER STORE’S INVENTORY. WE DON’T HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF MARKUP THAT OTHER BUSINESSES DO. THE IDEA IS TO GET MORE MONEY TO OUR ARTISANS, THOSE PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD THAT WOULD NORMALLY EARN A DOLLAR A DAY OR LESS. SO OUR FOCUS IS ON THEM. SO A 10% TARIFF REALLY TAKES OUT A BIG CHUNK OF OUR BOTTOM LINE, BECAUSE OUR PROFIT MARGIN IS SMALL AS IT IS. AND WHILE SOJOURN’S IS STOCKED WITH IMPORTED GOODS, KENDRICK SAYS SHE’S NOT THE ONLY BUSINESS OWNER FEELING THE IMPACT OF THE TARIFFS. FROM CHICKEN TO GIFT STORES TO CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES, KENDRICK SAYS EVERY BUSINESS WILL LIKELY SEE INCREASED COSTS OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. OUR PRINTERS, OUR COMPUTERS, THE THINGS WE DO, OUR POINT OF SALE EQUIPMENT THOSE ARE GENERALLY MADE OVERSEAS. SO EVERYTHING THAT WE DO TO RUN OUR BUSINESS IS GOING TO HAVE A TARIFF PLACED ON IT. EUGENE’S HOT CHICKEN OWNER DEBBIE KEARNEY SAYS THAT STATEMENT IS TRUE. HIS BUSINESS IS ALREADY SEEING PRICES GO UP. BASICALLY HIT US WITH OUR PAPER GOODS. THIS IS ONE OF OUR YEARS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY WANTED TO PUT MONEY TOWARDS BRANDING AND IT’S JUST BEEN A HINDRANCE OF, YOU KNOW, US GETTING PAPER SUPPLIES FROM OVERSEAS AS THEY NAVIGATE THE CHALLENGES OF TARIFFS AND INCREASE COSTS. BOTH KENDRICK AND KEARNEY SAY THERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS OWNERS LIKE THEM. PLEASE MAN SHOP SMALL BUSINESSES. THEY DON’T HAVE TO BE A RESTAURANT. BUY A GIFT CARD FOR SOMEBODY YOU KNOW OR JUST, YOU KNOW, FACEBOOK. JUST RETWEET SOMETHING ABOUT A SMALL BUSINESS. THERE’S SO MANY WAYS THAT YOU CAN HELP SMALL BUSINESSES THAT CAN TRULY IMPACT THEM IN A POSITIVE WAY. BOTH KENDRICK AND KEARNEY SPOKE AT A ROUNDTABLE ORGANIZED BY DEMOCRAT TERRI SEWELL TO DISCUSS THE IMPACT OF TARIFFS ON SMALL BUSINESSES LIKE THEIRS. IN BIRMINGHAM. ZOE BLAIR, WVTM 13. THE 90 DAY PAUSE ON TARIFFS SET TO EXPIRE JU

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Several local business owners participated in a roundtable hosted by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell to discuss the impact that tariffs are having on their businesses.Sewell was joined by Melissa Kendrick, owner of Sojourn’s Fair Trade, Zebbie Carney, owner of Eugene’s Hot Chicken, Selena Rodgers-Dickerson, president of SARCOR, LLC, and UAB Goodrich Entrepreneurship Chair Dr. Patrick J. Murphy. During the hour-and-a-half-long discussion, the group discussed how tariffs have been impacting their operations, and what they’re doing to combat them.Kendrick’s store, Sojourn’s Fair Trade, imports 97% of their inventory from over 50 countries worldwide, many of which were included in President Donald Trump’s tariff plan. Kendrick said the tariffs aren’t just impacting her, but also the artisans across the globe that she purchases from.”We don’t have the same level of markup that other businesses do,” Kendrick said. “The idea is to get more money to our artisans, those people around the world that would normally earn around a dollar a day or less. Our focus is on them so a 10% tariff really takes out a chunk of our bottom line because our profit margin is already small as it is.”She knows she’s not the only business owner feeling the impact of the tariffs. She said many business owners are facing similar challenges.”Our printers, our computers, the things that we do, our point of sale equipment, those are generally made overseas,” she said. “So, everything that we do to run our business is going to have a tariff placed on it.”Carney, owner of Eugene’s Hot Chicken, agreed with Kendrick, saying his business is feeling the impact of tariffs as well.”It basically hit us with our paper goods,” Carney said. “This is one of our years that we really wanted to put money towards branding and it’s really been a hindrance with us getting our paper supplies overseas.”As he and other business owners navigate these challenges, Carney believes you can help. He’s encouraging anyone and everyone to shop local when they can.”Please, man, shop small businesses,” Carney said. “It doesn’t have to be a restaurant, just buy a gift card for somebody. Just, Facebook or retweet, there are so many ways you can help a small business and impact them in a positive way.”The 90-day pause on most tariffs is set to end on July 9, with the exception of China, whose pause will end in August.