Alan M. 2026 | BASIS Independent McLean
- Project Title: Credit Access and Financial Resilience of Local Small Businesses During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- BASIS Independent Advisor: Rob Biemesderfer
- Internship Location: Small Business Development Center
This project will study how disruptions from a systemic event (COVID-19) interacted with financial fragility (credit access, liquidity, and cash-flow management) to determine which small local businesses survived, adapted, or closed, across sectors. Rather than analyzing all forms of systemic risk for large corporations, this research focuses on financial contagion and liquidity shocks during COVID-19, on local businesses in a county, how temporary freezes in demand and credit cascaded through local business networks.
My Posts
Week 9: Cleaning Up the Project
May 8, 2026
In the past week, I focused on cutting down my project. It went down from a staggering 9,500 words to a still staggering 7,000 words. That is a big improvement. I mainly cut down in the repetition of “concern profiles” and detailed explanations. Most details are still in tact, and I could not simply summarize […]
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Week 8: Finishing the Project Draft
May 5, 2026
In the past week, I made some major progress. I finished the draft of the essay, coming out to a staggering 9,500 word count. Therefore, my main objective next week, along with the presentation, is to cut it down. I did get access to Mason SBDC data, but I did not put any specific names, […]
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Week 7: Internship and Data Collection
April 20, 2026
In the past week, I focused on my internship. I attended workshops and local events, as well as supporting backend work including creating marketing materials and listing events. Regarding the research, I am facing barriers in collecting data, specifically through the way described last week. My counselor has concerns that it may violate the confidentiality […]
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Week 6: Data Analyses and Workshops
April 9, 2026
In the past week, I focused on analyzing data that are currently available and coming up with a framework to systematically categorize and summarize future data to be analyzed. I observed 2-3 counseling sessions per day, and recorded what each business consulted for. I have yet to plot data, nor have I used code to […]
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