The Takeaway checks in with small business owner Laura Richards

The World

This week we’re marking our one-year anniversary by checking in the people who have helped us understand the lives behind the numbers on the news. Real people with real stories about every issue from the Presidential campaign to the impact of the housing crisis to the state of the economy. Laura Richards is one of the voices we heard earlier this year. She owns two California Tortilla restaurant franchises in Maryland. We met her in October when small businesses were the canaries in the economic coalmine. At the time Ms. Richards was hoping to expand her franchise, just as credit was freezing. She joins us from Annapolis with an update.

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