Two businesses plan, or don’t plan, to reopen during Phase 1
On May 14, Governor Kate Brown announced that her offices had received 33 applications from Oregon counties seeking approval to start Phase 1 of reopening businesses on May 15. Each of these applications was reviewed by the Oregon Health Authority and Lane County was among the 28 accepted applicants.
Lane County’s reopening plan can be viewed here.
Local businesses are taking different approaches to Phase 1 guidelines.
Sunriver Brewery’s General Manager of the Oakway Pub Colin Gladden explained that the brewery has been following strict social distancing guidelines throughout the shutdown to maintain functionality.
“Even before we closed to just curbside, we had already been operating with six feet distance between tables for a day or two,” Gladden said. He added that the pub closed for only half a day to adjust to stricter guidelines and will operate based on the information both the state and county provide.
The brewery has also been able to take advantage of some federal assistance to stay in business during the pandemic.
“We have reached out for help with some of the programs coming out of the CARES Act out of congress such as the PPP loan,” Gladden said.
The Paycheck Protection Program loan is “a Small Business Association loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus crisis,” according to the U.S. Small Business Association.
The loan has helped some businesses keep a minimal staff to maintain a limited functionality. It is used as an incentive to keep employees on the payroll in an attempt to combat skyrocketing unemployment rates.
Another local Lane County business is taking a different approach.
Both of The Glenwood restaurants closed their doors on March 15 and are planning to possibly keep their doors shut through Phase 1.
The owner of The Glenwood restaurants, Jacqui Willey, expressed concerns about re-opening.
“We lost quite a bit in groceries,” she explained. “Let’s say that we gear-up, get going and do the best we can and we have a spike in Lane County and they have to close us down again.”
“That makes sense, but then we are throwing out all the groceries again,” Willey stated.
She also said that when she reopens, she won’t be able to put employees back on their normal schedules and will likely have a reduction of hours.
“You think — if I’m not careful — everyone will lose their unemployment,” she said.
Due to social distancing guidelines and the inability of the restaurant to guarantee six feet of distance between employees and customers, the PPP loan wasn’t a viable option for her and the restaurants.
“I didn’t apply for the PPP loans because to get that you have to bring everybody back full-time and there is no way for us to bring everybody back and stay six feet apart,” adding that “we are used to working in tight quarters.”
Both businesses have expressed that they have been impressed with the communication from the state and county in releasing these reopening guidelines and plan to follow suit cautiously.
