To my fellow corporate executives who are looking at spreadsheets and trying to ­determine the impact this crisis will have on sales and share prices, let me say: Our job as business leaders is now as simple as it is challenging. It is to maximize the number of employees and their families that we can help — and help them for as long as possible.

America’s corporations and small- and medium-sized businesses are making excruciating decisions. Many will result in people being out of work; millions have already been added to the jobless rolls as a result of the pandemic. Those difficult decisions, especially for small- and medium-sized businesses, could determine whether they are able to reopen when this crisis is resolved.

That is why protecting the ability of small and medium-sized businesses to recover is where government must again be responsive. Yes, more than $2 trillion in government rescue aid is coming. However, the longer this crisis continues, the greater the risk to the livelihood of many more Americans.