Houston Republic

Until about two weeks ago, Raymond Grimes was a Premier Parking valet driver at Le Meridien in Houston.

Now, like millions of other workers across the nation, he has been furloughed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This had caused me not to be able to pay bills," he told the Houston Republic.. "I depend on this job and tips weekly."

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His future is uncertain.

"I fear I could get behind on payments," he said. "I also feel this could change for valets for every. We have to interact with people daily."

Premier Parking needs to remain afloat for Grimes to have any hope of getting his old job back.

Last week Premier Parking COO William Clay called for more help to his industry, hard hit by the economic free fall 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, like Grimes, but 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, providing services at concerts, sports and other events.

Those events are postponed or canceled, drying up Premier Parking's business as the company's customers are largely stuck at home waiting out the crisis. That has 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 was quoted by 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 last week when the U.S. Labor Department reported that a record-breaking 6.6 million workers signed up for unemployment benefits.

The suddenness of the crisis is a large part of what has made the COVID-19 pandemic so difficult to comprehend.

"It's hard to imagine being in this seat a month ago and underwriting big lease deals and acquisitions, to being the same seat today with an entire public that no longer needs our company’s services," Clay told Tennessee Business Daily. "It happened seemingly overnight."

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.”

Grimes agrees with Clay that government assistance should flow into the parking and driving industry.

"I would like to see some form of assistance/payment for workers," Grimes said. "I think the government should help."