Invest in local businesses

Some years back, in the biggest town in a small county outside our 9th District, there was a clothing store. Upstairs was the office of the area’s weekly newspaper. Week after week, year after year, the clothing store published the same advertisement in the newspaper, displaying its name, address and a drawing of a coat rack, to signal what people could buy there. No brand names, no sale prices, nothing else.

The message this ad sent was clear and reassuring: “We’re still here.”

It’s a complete understatement to say the fallout from the coronavirus has already been hard on the private sector i...