WYANDOTTE, Mich. (WXYZ) — With a downtown full of small businesses, the city of Wyandotte relies on its restaurants and shops — and they rely on their community.
"When you're in a community, and you live in a community, support your community always," said Jeremy Sladovnik, owner of Joe's Hamburgers.
Sladovnik tells me they've been open on Biddle Ave. for about 16 years, but the last few years have been the most difficult.
"You don't know what the catalyst is for the struggles, you know; it's hard to understand where they're coming from. It's like a boat with holes and water and you put one finger in one and one in the other and sooner or later you're out of fingers," he said.
Between high costs for supplies and low foot traffic, Sladovnik says community support, like coming into the restaurant to have a meal, is crucial to keep his doors open.
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"When you got into this in 2009, did you ever think that you would be sitting here talking about how much you're struggling as a small business?" I asked.
"You know, not really, no," he said.
The owner of Coffee Lounge, Liz Fasczcza, is echoing his call to the community.
"Without these small businesses, we would not have a town," she said.
Open for four years now, Fasczcza says she doesn't take a paycheck from this place, but for her, it's not about that.
"I'm really working hard to keep this place going. I am taking my own personal income and putting it into this small business to keep it because I love it," said Fasczcza.
Helping to support these businesses is the non-profit Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber. According to the president, Ron Hinrichs, a focus of theirs is Wyandotte.
"We as a chamber of commerce are really focused on ensuring the health of Wyandotte is positive going into the future," said Hinrichs.
He said there's been a lot of concerns for small businesses specifically.
"We need to be very conscious of that and use our dollars very strategically," he said.
Hinrichs says the chamber also just launched a free virtual workshop for all small business owners. For more information, click here.
