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The local chambers of commerce have been working hand-in-hand with business owners large and small.
Kevin Crain never had to close his printing and sign business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But when Disney World shuttered its gates and large conventions were canceled en masse, his business dried up, too.
“I would love to be open, but there’s just not a demand,” said Crain, who estimates that between 80 and 90 percent of his business at Osceola Press Printing & Signs has dwindled away.
He chairs the small business council at the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce and said his situation is common.
Crain said the theme parks, hotels and restaurants not only attract tourists for themselves, but also anchor related support service industries, which in turn anchor other businesses. For example, when a rental car company loses business, so too does the local mechanic shop that fixes cars in the company’s fleet.
“We’re all interrelated,” he said. The economy’s come to a screeching halt.”
But with restaurants, stores and medical offices opening up again this week, there’s a noticeable increase in traffic and a buzz around town.
Crain received funding to keep his doors open and his staff paid through June through federal Paycheck Protection Program.
“When that’s gone, I’m going to need to be selfsustaining,” he said. “I’m not tremendously hopeful or confident that’s going to be the case.”
Crain said he knows the economy will correct itself, he’s just not sure when, or how long local small business owners can hang on.
“I think as long as the numbers (of coronavirus patients) don’t spike and the media don’t get carried away with the ‘sky is falling’ again, I think we’ll make it back.”
But until the theme parks re-open and conventions get booked, “it’s going to be a little iffy,” Crain said.
The local chambers of commerce have been working hand-in-hand with business owners large and small.
Chamber President John Newstreet sits on both the Osceola County Return to Work Task Force and the regional Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force, which are focused on providing policy and guidelines to return businesses to normal operations.
“Following directives from the federal and state government, each task force is coordinating guidelines and preparing support for local businesses,” Newstreet said.
“My days are busier either advocating for those who need the opportunity to open safely to survive this economic crisis or trying to get the best information to share. But it is important and worthwhile work that pays dividends with each business that opens and each worker that safely returns to work,” he said.
The chamber hosts a weekly webinar dedicated to helping businesses through the pandemic and its materials are open to the public and available on the chamber’s website.
Meanwhile, how Florida’s Phase 1 reopening plan will affect the spread of COVID-19 remains to be seen.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday announced that he would investigate the state’s failing unemployment system, run by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
