Businesses across the Battlefords have to explore all their options as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. (Josh Ryan/battlefordsNOW)

By Josh Ryan

Working the books

Battlefords Chamber of Commerce urges businesses to take proactive measures

Apr 3, 2020 | 4:53 PM

As businesses assess their respective situations, the local Chamber of Commerce is urging entrepreneurs to take proactive steps in handling the COVID-19 emergency.

“The stress isn’t going away anytime soon,” Chief Operating Officer Linda Machniak said. “Businesses need to hunker down and make those plans.”

Machniak has been on the phone with local business owners throughout the past two weeks, trying to provide resources for them to take care of their employees, their families and their books. She said she’s encouraged by the level optimism she’s seen so far, as well as having the right focus during this time.

“What to do for their employees, how to handle that situation and what it’s going to mean to other people in their life,” she said.

Assessing the coming weeks is the challenge, she said. Even members of the cleaning industry, like Modern Janitorial, are seeing steady work on the product side overshadowed by layoffs on the service side.

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“That end of the business has suffered somewhat,” Owner Phillip Isenor said.

A critical factor in lasting through the pandemic is the effect of the federal government’s $71 billion for employers to support employees. Robin Petersen, owner of Blend Restaurant and Bar, had to lay off most of his staff and said he could utilize that funding once it’s available.

“That will help to hire some people back,” Petersen said. “Maybe keep people on longer.”

However, many employers are waiting for the money to arrive. On Wednesday, Finance Canada put the timeline for funds getting to businesses and workers sometime between three to six weeks. Machniak said some cannot afford to hold on that long.

“Waiting until the end of May for money, to be able to pay that money you’ve had to put out, is going to be a bit of a challenge,” she said.

Many other challenges may pop up in coming weeks, which Isenor said makes the outlook for economic recovery less than promising. People no longer paying for services to focus purely on essentials, both now and following social distancing, is his primary concern.

“If people don’t have money now, they’re not going to spend on things they don’t need,” he said.

According to Machniak, figuring out how to utilize wage subsidies is key. Some industries, like fishing and hunting, may not have a full season of revenue and need to adjust accordingly. Knowing exactly what the business qualifies for is key.

“It really will be dependent on those individual businesses and their capacity to get through those customer meetings, supply chains meetings, talking with their staff in order to really come up with a plan that works for them,” Machniak said.

If the government aid is effective in keeping the economy afloat, the next challenge is bringing back approved municipal projects. Machniak said those provide important services to the community and are critical for the capacity to provide jobs.

“That is a really key part of it,” she said. “Making sure that projects that were planned continue to go ahead.”

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josh.ryan@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports