PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Trupti Patel, Hotel Owner on Intro 991-B
1:31:09
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130 sec
Trupti Patel, a hotel owner, testified about her family's journey in the hotel business and expressed concerns about the impact of Intro 991-B on small, family-owned hotels. She emphasized the need for amendments to protect small businesses while ensuring worker safety.
- Patel shared her family's immigrant success story, starting from her father's arrival in 1969 to owning multiple hotel properties.
- She highlighted the close relationships with employees in her family-owned business, stating that 99% of their employees are minorities.
- Patel requested the committee to consider amendments to Intro 991-B to prevent harm to small, family-owned hotels while still addressing worker concerns.
Trupti Patel
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Good morning.
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Chairman Menon and members of the committee.
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My name is Shruti Patel.
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My father came here in 1969 to pursue the American dream.
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He made it tough, but honest living, working 3 jobs 7 days a week to provide for our family.
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We called the Bronx home in those early days.
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And my father continued to save money in hopes of owning a motel some day.
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With financial support from family members, we were able to buy our first property when I was just five years old.
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Ours was a truly, family owned business.
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We lived in the motel.
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My father would handle the front desk, and my mother would handle room service.
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Eager to help.
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I would clean rooms with my mom and help my dad answer phone calls.
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No one succeeds alone.
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We hired other people to help supporting their livelihood and uplifting our communities.
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Our collective hard work meant we could sustain our growth and grow our business.
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50 years later, I can tell you our business and lives have been built on blood, sweat, and tears.
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Big chains can sustain regulations like this, but small businesses cannot.
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Neither can workers 99% of our employees are minorities, and they rely on us to provide for their families.
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Intro 991 needs important amendments to be to make sure that family own businesses like mine aren't destroyed while big chains continue to thrive.
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All I ask is to really listen to our concerns and protect our livelihoods.
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Our employees are like family to us.
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They've been with us for over 10 years, and we know each other on a named named basis.
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And they are more than welcome to call us directly and address their concerns, which I have in the past.
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And we do address their concerns and their needs.
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So please consider just taking a good look at this amendment and if if there's any amendments that need to be made to this 991.
