We’re In This Together, ‘Rubber Chicken’ Dinners And All
Mark Leger is the editor and part-owner of Huddle. This is a weekly column that features opinion, analysis and reflections on Huddle stories, podcasts and business news in the region.
In October 2019, Huddle was a finalist in the “Emerging Enterprise” category at the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce annual business awards. At a dinner with hundreds of other entrepreneurs, company employees and community leaders, they showed video testimonials from the nominees in many categories, including me.
Our fellow finalists – the Saint John Tool Library (which ended up winning) and local restaurant The Zesty Lemon – had both been profiled in Huddle in recent years.
“We consider ourselves part of the family of small and medium-sized businesses in the Saint John region,” I said at the time. “We’ve told stories about nearly all of the nominees in the various categories for this year’s awards. It’s an honour to be in the company of so many successful up-and-coming and established businesses.”
It was a great night for all of us, win or lose, as we gathered to celebrate our successes. Of course, we didn’t know that only months later, the Covid-19 pandemic would hit and many of the businesses would have to shut down or cut back on their activities to slow the progress of the virus.
At Huddle, reporting about the ups (and downs) of the region’s businesses is what we do. What we don’t often mention is that we own and operate a small business ourselves and go through the same ups (like the awards dinner) and the same downs (Covid-19).
Privately owned media outlets in this region, large and small, have experienced revenue declines in the last year as businesses reduced or eliminated advertising and promotions budgets during the pandemic. When we interview owners of restaurants, cafes, bars, hair salons and gyms, we empathize with their precarious and often dire financial situations – and we feel the pain too because we’re going through it ourselves.
This was on my mind this week as the region delayed reopening the “Atlantic Bubble” and Nova Scotia reintroduced restrictive measures for four weeks because of a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Premier Iain Rankin announced “what is almost a full lockdown” in the Halifax area that includes closing down in-person dining at restaurants, closing spas and hair salons, and only allowing retail businesses to operate at 25 percent capacity. Indoor sports and recreation facilities had to close, though they can hold fitness classes outdoors with social distancing. Large events such as wedding receptions, funeral receptions, festivals, arts and culture performances, sports events are also cancelled.
All this, after a year of trying to contain the spread of the virus at great cost to area businesses that have struggled even with wage subsidies and other financial supports.
Earlier in the week, the province had already announced the cancellation of the World Women’s Hockey Championship, which was set to take place in early May. As reported by Huddle’s Trevor Nichols, HRM staff had calculated prior to the onset of the pandemic that the tournament would bring about $2.5-million of economic activity to the city., which included the approximately 2,000 hotel rooms that would have been booked and all the spending from the expected 82,000 attendees.
“I sincerely regret the short notice, but the rapidly changing environment dictates this decision is in the interest of the safety of Nova Scotians and participants,” said Rankin. “The safety of the Nova Scotia public and participants is paramount and is the reason for our decision.”
It’s important to remember that most businesses have supported the necessary measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, despite the enormous impact on their employees and bottom lines.
The day after the women’s hockey championship was cancelled, Trevor spoke with Megan Delaney, the general manager at Cambridge Suites Hotel Halifax and the president of the Hotel Association of Nova Scotia. She knows the struggles of the tourism industry need to be seen in the context of the greater public health crisis.
“The road has been tough for tourism, but we’re not healthcare. We’re not people who [for the most part] have been directly impacted by the death of a family member from Covid-19. Those are the real people that are having a hard time and struggling throughout this year. So we can talk about economic struggles, but it’s all about perspective,” said Delaney.
“The tourism industry is part of a much larger community. And we want that community to have good health. And then when people feel safe to travel, we hope they really come out and support local.”
Business leaders like Patrick Sullivan of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce say the latest measures are too extreme, though, and it may be difficult for many businesses to survive a four-week shutdown.
“Hundreds, if not thousands, of people were laid off [this week], so it’s an impact to those employees and an impact to businesses,” Sullivan told Huddle reporter Derek Montague this week.
“Some businesses are not surviving, that’s probably fair to say. And they’re surviving, in many cases, by taking on more debt. So, the impacts of this will be far-reaching and long-term. It will take businesses years to get back from where we are, and some may never come back.”
This is the situation Halifax faces this week. Edmundston, New Brunswick, also remains in lockdown, with businesses like hair salons and gyms closed and restaurants limited to take-out only. But next week it could be Moncton, Saint John or Fredericton as we continue to face new waves and new variants of the virus, despite the rollout of the vaccine across the region.
It is important to be vigilant but to continue to support the businesses weathering a difficult and unpredictable time. We’re continually reminded not to let down our guard when it comes to taking protective measures like wearing masks. The same is true for rallying around our local businesses in their time of need. It’s why Huddle supports NB365, a year-long Love for Local New Brunswick campaign in support of the province’s entrepreneurs.
The region’s businesses have continued to support each other throughout the pandemic, even holding virtual award ceremonies and dinners. But nothing replaces an in-person gathering. I’m a vegetarian but I’d sure welcome attending one of those awards galas with the rubber-chicken dinners right about now.
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The banner photo is from the Halifax Partnership Facebook page.