KAUKAUNA, Wis. (NBC26) -- As Governor Tony Evers announced a $45 million relief package for restaurants in Wisconsin, Northeast Wisconsin business owners like Mark Landreman question whether it’s enough.
"You can give all the money you want away, but when we're out of business, it doesn't help," Landreman, a co-owner of Landreman's Family Restaurant, said.
"It's a bandage because, as someone said, it's like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day,"Dougherty said. "Because it's still a cloudy day out there. Covid-19 is real and it affects our industry. We are in the hospitality industry, where people come to break bread and gather and share meals."
But Dougherty believes something is better than nothing.
"It will certainly help some places put a little money in the check book and get you further down the road," he said.
But can it make up for the losses of the last several months? Landreman's co-owner Jean Landreman says 'no, It can't.'
"Yesterday, we celebrated our 25th anniversary of being open here [at Landreman's]," Jean said. "And we're back close to sales that we were 25 years ago."
And Dougherty agrees. He believes nothing beats a higher number of customers.
"The capacity isn't the limiter at this time," Dougherty said. "It's people's comfort to come out and dine out that is the limiting factor. ... It certainly will help them get a little further down the road to the vaccine where we can get that started and get some people feeling comfortable about going out in public."
For these local business owners, the amount of customers they serve is more important than the grant.
