
When early March brought the first major outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S, Linda Bauer and her team at My Next Puppy braced for impact, portending the closure of “non-essential” small businesses. A local, family-owned and operated puppy store in Chantilly, VA, My Next Puppy was especially vulnerable, as shutting down its puppy care facility wasn’t an option. “We’re just one, brick and mortar, mom and pop kind of place, and when this all started, my thought was, ‘Who am I gonna have to lay off?’” said Bauer. “That was the scariest thing in the world.” But Virginia deemed My…