State Senator Tom Bakk

State Senator Erik Simonson

State Representative Mary Murphy
State Representative Jennifer Schultz
State Representative Liz Olson
75 Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
St. Paul, MN 55155

Sent via e-mail.

May 26, 2020

Dear Senator Bakk, Senator Simonson, Representative Murphy, Representative Schultz

and Representative Olson,

As your constituents and local business owners, we write you with an urgent and
immediate need. Independent restaurants in northern Minnesota directly employ
thousands of workers and indirectly thousands more up and down the food and
hospitality supply chain. We are small businesses that have a huge impact on the
economy.

We respectfully ask you to request Governor Walz to make immediate adjustments to

his Executive Order relating to restaurant and bar openings. Allowing establishments
with only outdoor dining to open on June 1st is a disaster for our industry and a
measure that has blindsided us. After the Governor’s extension of the closure last week
and indication we could reopen in some capacity on June 1st, we feel the Governor has
made a unfortunate error that will cost jobs and ultimately put many of our businesses in
great peril.

It is impractical to think restaurants in the Duluth area, or the North Shore of Lake
Superior, will benefit from outdoor dining in June. Most of our local restaurants have no
or extremely limited outdoor seating. Furthermore, many of our members with outdoor
dining were able to utilize that part of their service for only a few days in June 2019.
The temperature and Lake Superior wind in June make outdoor dining near impossible.
We need our indoor dining spaces open at a minimum capacity to survive.
As an industry, we have been preparing for weeks to reopen in a safe and healthy
manner – protecting our guests and employees. Our businesses have created safety
plans, ordered cleaning supplies, sanitizers, masks, thermometers, gloves and other
personal protective equipment for our employees and guests. These businesses are
our livelihoods and we take reopening in a safe manner very seriously. We do not want
to spread this virus and we want to make sure our guests and staff are safe. We are
asking you to request Governor Walz to immediately take steps to allow for our indoor
dining areas to reopen at some limited capacity, and in a safe, socially distanced
environment.

That brings us to our next request. The Governor’s new guidelines will make it almost
impossible for restaurants in Minnesota to use funds from the Paycheck Protection
Program. Restaurants will either need to return the funds, use them as a loan to be
paid back in the next 24-months, or wait and see if the federal government loosens the
rules on the fund’s forgiveness guidelines.

We call on our state leaders to create additional programs to help struggling

independent restaurants. If the Governor will not allow us to reopen our indoor dining
areas, we need the state’s financial assistance in the form of operational grants that will
help us pay leases, mortgages, utilities, and other costs of doing business. We
desperately need this help now. Our industry runs on traditionally low margins and now
we are running on no margins at all. We need help.

We appreciate what Governor Walz has done to curb the spread of this terrible virus.
We have been patient and willing to work with the state. The time has come, though, to
let us safely reopen at a limited capacity in indoor settings.

Restaurants across the state of Minnesota are struggling. With our busy season upon
us – the time each year we must make money to survive the winter months – it is
important leaders like you recognize this recovery will likely not happen this
summer. We will need more help if we are to survive.

Please consider our suggestions and we would invite you to speak to our group via
Zoom, conference call or in person soon.

Respectfully,
Tony Bronson, DLRA President
Grandma’s Saloon & Grill – Miller Hill
Grandma’s Saloon & Grill – Canal Park
Grandma’s Saloon & Grill – Virginia
Bellisio’s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar
Little Angie’s Cantina & Grill
The Sports Garden
Jason Vincent, DLRA Vice President
Boat Club Restaurant & Bar
 Vanilla Bean – Duluth
Vanilla Bean – Two Harbors
Tom Hanson
Duluth Grill
Corktown Deli & Brews
OMC Smokehouse
Louis Hanson - OMC Smokehouse
Jeff Petcoff - Corktown Deli & Brews
Dan LeFebvre - Duluth Grill
Carol Valentini (DLRA Treasurer)
Valentini’s Vicino Lago Italian Restaurant
Valentini’s Deli
Valentini’s Bistro
Cullen Flaherty (DLRA Secretary), Julie Thoreson
Black Woods Restaurant – Duluth
Black Woods Restaurant – Proctor
Black Woods Restaurant – Two Harbors
Tavern on the Hill
Black Water Lounge
Greysolon Ballroom
Stephanie LaFleur – The Caddyshack Indoor Golf & Pub
Rod Raymond
Fitger’s Brewhouse Brewery & Grille
The Rathskeller
Burrito Union
The Barrell Room
Tim Wright – Pickwick Restaurant & Pub
Luke Schmitz, Patrick Moore – Va Bene Caffe
Sean Flaherty
Perkins Restaurant & Bakery – East Duluth
Perkins Restaurant & Bakery – Cloquet
Paige Doty & JJ Haywood – Pizza Luce Duluth
Scott Graden – New Scenic Café
Ken Wright – Bulldog Pizza

CC: Governor Tim Walz

Speaker Melissa Hortman
Majority Leader Ryan Winkler
Minority Leader Kurt Daudt
Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka
Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent
Duluth Mayor Emily Larson
David Ross, Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce
Kristi Stokes, Duluth Greater Downtown Council
Anna Tanski, Visit Duluth