Small Business Spotlight - Koru Chiropractic and Atlas Chiropractic
Over the last several weeks, communities along the Front Range have been faced with a daunting task of grappling with the fear of the unknown related to COVID-19 coupled with the suppression through regulations and edicts on our everyday lives.
Where many value add services were available previously, ranging from barbers, hairstylists, local specialty shops, and health care services such as dentists, eye doctors, and orthodontists, most of those services have been closed down for an extended period of time. As the state of Colorado continues with layers and layers of oppressive rules and government oversight under the guise of “safety”, providers of these services are left to figure out how stay up as they fight to save their businesses and livelihoods.
Dr. Norris Golberg, owner Koru Chiropractic
One of these businesses in the Broomfield area is Koru Chiropractic, which has suffered through this timeline over the last two-plus months. Dr. Norris Golberg, the owner of Koru Chiropractic, experienced a 90% loss in his service business on the onset of the stay-at-home mandate. Adding insult to injury, Dr. Golberg was restricted to offer his services except in the case if “extreme emergencies”, a difficult bar to meet for chiropractic services as defined by the State of Colorado. If Dr. Golberg or his patients had violated this edict, Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) could come in and shut his business down, and even revoke his license.
In early May, Koru Chiropractics was able to re-open on a limited basis under the “safer-at-home” order. In order to operate under these rules, Dr. Golberg can only see one person every 15 minutes, must clean and sanitize his working spaces after every visit, and provide the necessary safety restrictions such as masks and social distancing to his patients. Again, if Dr. Golberg violates these directions, his business could be closed down.
In spite of that, Dr. Golberg did partially re-open his business, returning to seeing around 50 people, but only two days a week, or approximately 60% of his normal business. As a healthcare professional, Dr. Golberg is adhering to the state’s “safer at home” requirements, but at the same time, he holds the position that health care decisions should be between the patient and the doctor. He adds that masks are not proven to be beneficial, and the overwhelming majority of his patients do not wish to wear masks.
Dr. Alison Bremner, owner Atlas Chiropractic
Since partially re-opening, Koru Chiropractic has been living in this reality, and there may not be an end in sight. Perhaps he will be able to open his business further by the beginning of June, but that remains to be seen. To keep his business going, and to support his employees and the industry, Dr. Golberg applied for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan; his application was denied by two banks before he was approved by a third out of state bank. He was also denied a Louisville City Grant. Though he was eligible for this grant, he didn't receive it because those local grants are given to businesses with the highest sales and use tax revenues. Since service professionals pay no sales tax and little use taxes annually, support for his business was denied. Can you say picking winners and losers?
So at that stage, Dr. Golberg was inspired to take matters into his own hands to the extent that he could. Dr. Golberg teamed up with another chiropractor and friend Dr. Alison Bremner, owner of Atlas Chiropractic in Boulder, to start the Solopreneur Grant program.
The Solopreneur Grant program is raising money to provide grants to local entrepreneurs that “have been overlooked and been left in the dust” by other small business programs. Specifically the grant is oriented to companies of 1-2 employees, which is the majority of small businesses.
100% of the money donated to the Solopreneur Grant program will go to entrepreneurs, who can submit a simple two-minute video to share how they are deserving of the grant. The entries will be shared on social media, and votes on the videos will determine the winners of a $2,000 grant.
To date, Norris and Alison have raised over $5,400 with the goal to raise $6,000 in total. Fundraising ends on May 31st, and the winners will be announced the first week of June.
Thank you to Norris and Alison for there creativity and leadership for entrepreneurs. If you would like to donate to this worthy, private enterprise effort, please visit the Solopreneur Grant program. We look forward to supporting Norris and Alison in their efforts to help get our local economy moving again, and are excited to see their efforts pay off in helping local businesses.