When the second plane hit the World Trade Center tower on that fateful Tuesday morning in September, Alice Blair knew right away that her small business on Cedar Swamp Road in Smithfield could be in trouble. She was right.
Blair and her husband, Glenn Piazza, own Continental Travel Agency. Prior to September 11, the company employed Blair full-time and two part-timers, as well as three outside associates.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
Learn More
But immediately after the terrorist attacks, everything changed. Airports closed. People were scared. The travel business hurt like no other.
A lot of the business Blair did was businesspeople traveling to Washington, D.C. But Reagan National Airport closed for weeks. Airlines would not allow her to switch tickets to Baltimore.
It was a mess. And then the country’s overall fear of flying set in – and just when it didn’t seem that they possibly could, things got worse. People were canceling vacation plans, not making them.
It was not a good time to own a travel agency.
“The woman who worked on Saturdays came to me and said; ‘I’m sitting around doing nothing,'” said Blair.
So the part-timers lost their jobs. Three outside associates became two.
“I didn’t have a choice,” said Blair.
And then Blair learned what we all have learned since September 11 – that Americans really do care for one another. The first sign was a conversation that Blair had with her landlord.
It was one of those conversations you don’t ever want to have. Blair was nervous when she told him that she didn’t quite have the $900 he was accustomed to receiving each month. Business, she said, was bad. She figured she could afford about half her monthly rent.
And then the landlord, Ronald Ronci, said something special. Simple, but special. He told her not to worry about a thing. And then the hairdresser who runs a business next door to Continental Travel stopped by to ask if there was anything that he could do. Later, he would send clients her way. “It made me feel better, even if the bills were still there,” she said. “Everyone in this building reached out. They thought about me.”
The bills, of course, do not go away. So Blair applied for an Expanded Economic Injury Disaster Loan through the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Last week, the loan – for $13,200 – came through. There was a ceremony on Cedar Swamp Road, with SBA officials and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed.
At first, Blair thought it was all too much of a fuss. There was a flag and a portable lectern. It was all so official.
But then she realized there was a true significance to the event. It represented tangible evidence that the system works – that we bend, but we don’t break. That we come together.
“This was a big deal,” said Blair. “The government is working the way it should.” The loan, said Blair, allows her to “breathe a little easier.”
It allows her a chance to focus on the task at hand, which is to solidify her business – her little American Dream come true.
Blair has been in the travel business since 1979 and has loved every minute of it. The months following September 11 have been an enormous challenge. But Blair has weathered a war, a recession and Internet competition before.
“This is the first time it has happened all at once,” she said.
Blair is an optimist. There are signs, she said, that people are beginning to regain their confidence. Flights are cheap. Cruise lines are coming up with some tempting deals. And Americans, she said simply like to travel. “I’m beginning to see a little bit of a turnaround,” she said. “Now I’m praying for snow. Once it snows, people want to get out.”
