SE LA Times

Dana Lizotte, a Premier Parking account manager at Hyatt House-Irvine, is trying to remain optimistic despite being furloughed with the rest of his team last month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I know there is plenty of others in the same boat as me," Lizotte told the SE LA Times. "And I want people to stay optimistic. I know America is a tough country. We can get through this. Be kind to everyone."

He also said that government should step in to help him and others financially slammed by the coronavirus's economic impact. 

"I hope we can get some government assistance to bring back the hundreds of hard workers Premier Parking unfortunately has to let go," he said. "This situation is nobody's fault but I hope we can work together to help each other in these trying times."

Lizotte said the future is uncertain.

"I'm concerned this will continue to draw out and I'll have to seriously re-evaluate my financial situation," he said. "I could possibly lose everything."

Lizotte said he has "a little bit of savings" but a long time without an income could wipe that out fairly quickly. His parents, "older and not in the best financial situations," can offer little assistance, he said.

"I worked very hard to get to the position I was in and this is very discouraging," Lizotte said. "I'd love to see our country turn this around and get everyone back to work."

Premier Parking, as with other parking and driving industry companies across the nation, has the same hopes.

Last week Premier Parking COO William Clay called for more help to start flowing to his industry, hard hit by the economic freefall wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The phase III stimulus package, which included extended unemployment benefits, passed by the U.S. House and Senate last month, likely will help most of Premier Parking's furloughed employees. However, the company also is struggling, Clay said.

"We are asking that the parking industry [NAICS 812930] be recognized as an industry in need of assistance, and we are asking for business interruption insurance to be granted to our company [and others like us] in this time of great need," Clay told Tennessee Business Daily.

Premier Parking employs more than 2,000 associates in more than 600 locations in more than 40 cities across the nation. It provides services at concerts, sports and other events.

Those events are postponed or canceled, drying up Premier Parking's business as the company's potential customers are largely stuck at home waiting out the crisis. That led to the furlough of hundreds of Premier Parking's employees.

"[The coronavirus] has caused devastation to our company and to our family of employees as we've been forced to lay off hundreds of employees over the past two weeks," Clay said according to the Tennessee Business Daily. "This has been the most difficult two weeks of my professional life. Revenues are down 90-plus percent across the board as most CBDs are shelter-in-place, and employees are working from home."

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was starkly illustrated earlier last week when the U.S. Labor Department reported a record-breaking 6.6 million Americans signed up for unemployment benefits.

The majority of Premier Parking's workforce are in field operations, including valet drivers at hotels, also shut down by the crisis, and shuttle bus drivers for hotel employees who also have been largely furloughed.

"Through no fault of their own, their lives have been turned upside down, Clay said. "They lost a steady job with a reliable paycheck and are facing repercussions that may seem insurmountable for many.”

This included Lizotte and his team in Irvine.