Faced with a deal gone wrong and no help in sight, small business owner Joe Gapastione, turned to his country for help. When that option failed he quickly turned to his customers.
Gapastione owns Al & Joe's Deli, a 50-year-old sandwich shop in Franklin Park, Illinois. At the beginning of the economic downturn Al & Joe's business' was booming. The business was doing so well that Gapestione was in the process of opening a new restaurant in another nearby Chicago suburb.
Gapastione's bank was among the first financial institutions to fail when the recession hit. This left the small business owner with a loan on the property for his new location and no more equity to secure the loan that his now defunct bank had promised him.
Gapastione wrote letters to President Obama and many other Illinois politicians asking them to find a way to help small business owners. When Gapastione's letter were not met with a reply, he asked a few of his loyal cutomers for help. Patrick Elwood, a reporter for Fox Chicago News, and his crew are long time fans of the food at Al & Joe's Deli. When Gapestione mentioned his situation to Elwood, and that the government had shown no signs of wanting to help, the local news crew sprung into action.
Within a week Fox Chicago was broadcasting live from the small deli, and outlining Gapastiones plight. The broadcast netted some promising results. Gapastione's interview prompted Fox News Channel to interview Gapastione on 'Fox and Friends' on the morning of March 21st 2010.
White House officials contacted Gapastione within a few days, as well as Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias. Though no direct solution has been made yet, the ball is rolling. Gapastione is more optimistic about his situation than he has been in years. The news clips are posted on the deli's facebook page, which can be found by typing Al & Joe's Deli in the search bar of any facebook page.
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