Garberville business owners appeared before the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to “sound the alarm” over a precipitous decline in revenues, a drop they attributed to existential struggles in the region’s renowned cannabis industry.
“I personally have seen a 40 percent drop in sales year-to-date,” said Jolan Banyasz, owner of Garberville clothing store Sweet Grass Boutique. “This last month, September, I saw a 60 percent decrease in sales. I cannot operate at these losses.”
Banyasz recently had to let go of a seven-year employee who has since been unable to find another job in the area. “Across the board, every single business is not really hiring because nobody is thriving,” she said. Banyasz added that she’s heard from other local business owners who are hanging on by a thread, paying bills out of their savings.
“I want to see it thriving,” she said. “I want to see our community members being able to support our businesses. I’m not seeing any economic opportunities now that the cannabis industry is collapsing.”
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