Julie Verratti expected to see a seasonal uptick in business at her two Denizens Brewing Co. locations—one in Silver Spring and the other in Riverdale Park. The warmer spring months are a great time to drink beer outdoors, after all.

Instead, she’s facing an existential challenge to her business—a fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic that has forced her to close to dine-in customers and try to get by on any beer deliveries she and her staff can handle.

[Read the latest updates about coronavirus in our region here]

“Revenue has dropped drastically,” she says. “And we still have operating costs that we have to make, bills we have to pay.”

She’s not the only one. Owners of small businesses across the Washington region—from bars and restaurants to bookshops and record stores—are facing one of the most significant threats ever to their livelihoods. As the virus prompts an almost total shutdown of the economy, owners are being left to wonder how they’ll pay their bills, while many employees are being let go and told to apply for unemployment benefits. Everyone, from workers to managers, is looking to the government for help.

Business owners and industry leaders say in order to survive, small businesses need a level of government help that’s as unprecedented as the pandemic itself. It will have to come in a number of forms: access to cash and credit; temporary forgiveness of debt payments; increased unemployment benefits for laid-off employees; and a suspension of tax collections, to name just a few. And it will have to come quickly.

“It’s pretty simple in terms of need,” says Kathy Hollinger, the president of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. “The problem is… no government, whether local or federal, does anything in an immediate fashion.”

For now, Verratti says the most immediate need is cash. Businesses are burning through it. Once they run out, they’ll be stuck with nothing to pay the bills. And even if the pandemic does prove to be short-lived, those businesses will have nothing to kickstart operations once the all-clear is given.

Local governments are responding, at least in part. D.C. has delayed payment of certain taxes for businesses, and on Tuesday will start accepting applications from businesses, contractors and self-employed workers for “recovery grants” from a new $25 million fund. Lawmakers in Montgomery County are introducing emergency legislation to create a similar fund.

“They’re going to get help paying their rent, keeping their employees around, and paying for their ongoing operating expenses like utilities that don’t go away, even when you’re closed,” says Councilmember Tom Hucker (D-District 5), who stood alongside County Executive Marc Elrich in Silver Spring last week to announce the fund.

On Monday, Gov. Larry Hogan announced a new $175 million grant and loan program to help businesses pay workers, suppliers, landlords, and other expenses.

Hollinger says the many bars and restaurants she represents are happy to have at least some government support, but she worries that it won’t be enough.

“I will never say that is not appreciated, but given the pool of money and the number of businesses, it will be modest at best,” she says. “So it is really hoping that what the federal government is coming out with in their package is translated to the small business operator in a way that can offer the immediate relief.”

Federal relief has started to flow. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia have qualified for disaster assistance loans from the Small Business Administration, which offers businesses and non-profits up to $2 million to cover revenue losses from the coronavirus pandemic. But some business owners say those loans aren’t as helpful as they sound.

“Having worked with them before, just the amount of paperwork and the amount of time [it takes], people don’t have that right now. We’re just trying to keep our businesses going,” says Eileen McGervey, owner of Arlington’s One More Page Books.

“My concern is just leveraging debt onto small businesses, especially restaurants and bars, it just isn’t enough,” said John Guggenmos, who has owned and run a number of bars and nightclubs in D.C. over the years, during a conference call with District officials last week.

A massive federal recovery bill slowly moving its way through Congress could offer local businesses the best chance at the help they need—it’s said to include hundreds of billions of dollars in assistance. But Verratti says it will take something more drastic to help businesses in the long term.

“The immediate moratorium on all commercial debts, the immediate moratorium on all commercial mortgages and an immediate moratorium on all commercial rents,” she says. “If they can do either an executive order or pass legislation to make sure that that is happening immediately, that will be a huge game-changer.”

As they await assistance, businesses across the Washington region are trying to do what they can. A number of bars and restaurants have turned to take-out, some distillers are producing and selling hand sanitizer, Denizens is doing beer delivery, and One More Page Books is taking book orders over the phone and online and shipping them to customers. And for some, like Dempsey Hamilton, owner of Mobius Records in Fairfax City, a little understanding is going a long ways.

“We are in a pretty unique situation with our landlord because we don’t have a corporation who owns our building. It’s just one guy and he’s been around for a long time. It’s the most, like, 1960s handshake lease I’ve ever had. So we have not heard from them yet. I think they’re probably trying to figure out a plan because there’s, I think six of us small businesses that are in my little row. And I’m assuming that because they are good dudes, they’re trying to figure out something,” he says.

Local officials say they will continue to find ways to help businesses, but they face their own challenges: they’re not sure how much of a hit municipal and state budgets could face from the severe economic downturn, so they have to proceed somewhat cautiously.

“Part of the challenge is we’re not sure where the bottom is yet,” says D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, who chairs the Council’s business committee and represents Ward 5. “We definitely need some leadership on the federal side to get relief to states and cities with expediency.”

Verratti says Denizens has received “amazing” support from its customers, but it won’t be enough to keep all local businesses afloat until the pandemic passes. Elected leaders have to act, she says—and quickly.

“Policymakers right now need to be taking bold, decisive action. The old rules of legislating need to be thrown out the window,” she says. “This is an emergency ‘break-the-glass’ situation if we want to make sure that our small businesses get out alive on the other side of this.”