Business returning to downtown areas, production up at local companies
Blue Ridge Business Association President Cesar Martinez gave the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors an update on how local businesses are doing following COVID-19 related closures.
“I can tell you that if you go downtown on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, you would think that nothing was going on,” Martinez said referencing the increase of public gathering in downtown Blue Ridge. “We have big crowds, and sales have been at or better than last year for the most part. … Even the week days are doing pretty well.”
He said downtown McCaysville is also busy, regardless of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway not running.
“I’ll tell you right now, even without the train, my Thursday, Friday, Saturday sales are still very robust in McCaysville, which is a good thing,” he said. “It proves that McCaysville is turning into another destination and upcoming spot for people to go and stop and stay on their way up the highway, which is great because we’re doing that without the train. I think McCaysville will come back pretty strong.”
According to Martinez, looking at the national figures for retail sales do not give an accurate representation of how small businesses are doing following COVID-19 related closures.
“The national numbers for May just came out last week, and retail was up almost 18% on a national basis,” he said. “So if you see those numbers out there and you read them, you think, ‘Okay, retail has made a huge rebound.’ … Those are national numbers, which include a lot of big box retailers. If you look at small town business, like we have here, that’s really not the case. For most of us, we were shut down for April and May, so any increase in May sales were probably very, very minimal. June, on the other hand, I think you’ll find is gonna be much more robust.”
Martinez believes that businesses will take advantage of the time they have open in case another wave of the virus causes businesses to close again. He said, “The small businesses out there, I think, will try to take advantage as much as they can right now for as long as they can, because if this comes back again, it will get shut down again.”
Fannin County Development Authority Executive Director Christie Gribble discussed the increase in production and capacity that local manufacturers and businesses have seen, as well as the stability of the local economy.
“Ultimately, when you think of a diversified economy, it made me feel really good about what we have here,” Gribble said. “Aside from how we were impacted by tourism, our economy stayed pretty steady, and our businesses had great things to report through the duration of COVID-19.”
Multiple local companies have increased production and capacity to create and distribute products needed during the pandemic including mobile medical units, medical equipment, hand sanitizer and more.
“This is all on top of what these businesses are normally doing,” she said.
She also used the opportunity to inform the board that, according to the Department of Labor, employees who decline to return to work should no longer receive unemployment.