‘Everyone is hunkering down.’ The affordability crisis is rattling mom-and-pop shops

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — Surging import costs. Mounting payroll and healthcare expenses. A shortage of affordable loans. And a stressed-out workforce. Small businesses are facing mounting pressure from America’s affordability crisis. Doug Scheffel, owner of a family-run ETM Manufacturing in Massachusetts, laid off about a quarter of his employees in April