Unprecedented.   That’s the word that many would use to describe 2020. 2020 was a busy year for media outlets as reports of the novel coronavirus swept national headlines early into the new year and people across the globe soon found themselves grappling with a rising death toll amid fluctuating shelter-in-place mandates, environmental disasters, and one of the most contentious elections in US history.  While the year was defined by hardship and transition, 2020 in many ways served as testament to the power of the people and the undying nature of hope. COVID-19 & the Return of “Yellow Peril” Disease outbreaks historically have often been met with stigma and an escalation in bigotry and xenophobia. The 1918 influenza pandemic (called the Spanish Flu) killed over 50 million people across the globe.  Interestingly, it did not start in Spain – that’s just where widespread deaths were first recorded.   Today, the global scientific community (after rigorous research), is widely convinced that the 1918 pandemic originated in a…

Virtually every aspect of life and the economy has been changed in some way due to COVID-19, and we still don’t have a full picture of the impact. What we do know is that businesses in almost every industry are being hit—hard. Small businesses are…