May 13th, 2021 by WCBC Radio

The president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Maryland says he is both optimistic and concerned about restaurant recovery from the pandemic in the state. Marshall Weston acknowledged that boosted unemployment benefits are hampering efforts to rehire industry workers who were let go during the height of the pandemic, but he also said there are other factors contributing to the labor shortage…

Speaking with WBAL, Weston backed off his projection from last year that 40% of Maryland restaurants would go out of business. He now estimates about 20% of restaurants will close permanently.