Women business owners, community leaders share obstacle-laced survival stories

Longtime grocery store owner Lisa Pardington and relatively-new restaurateur Sasha Richaironarongsongkram have faced the same stubborn hurdle throughout the past several months: an inability to secure employees.

Pardington, who has owned Canton's Holiday Market with her husband John since 1998, said she has lost 30% of her employees since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic while Richaironarongsongkram, who opened Canton's Mhai Thai restaurant in February 2020, has been forced to employ her school-aged children and 74-year-old mother to keep her business operational.

Labeling the problem a workforce shortage would be deceptive, the two business owners agreed during the May 26 "Women Owned Wednesday" event at Jacob Matthew Jewelers in Canton. Representatives from the Canton Chamber of Commerce as well as several female community leaders and small business owners, including host Tammy Haggerty, joined U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D., whose staff orchestrates the weekly events throughout Michigan's 11th Congressional District.