The Restaurant Association of Maryland projects that 25-percent of restaurants may permanently close as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. RAM President and CEO Marshall Weston says the crisis has gone on longer than anyone anticipated and businesses are running out of money. Weston says the pressures restaurants will face during the transition process will be immense and he hopes lawmakers will create restaurant-specific relief funds. It’s estimated that 150-thousand restaurant industry employees are out of work in Maryland due to the pandemic.
