One by one, and one step at a time, local businesses are re-opening their doors and employees are going back to work.
About 20% of Fannin County restaurants are open, the majority of downtown Blue Ridge businesses are up and running as are professional services, and cabin rentals are picking back up. Businesses in Copperhill are also working to return to normal.
Every industry is still affected in some way by governmental guidelines, and most are working diligently to observe those guidelines. This often means some inconveniences for customers.
But remember that many of the businesses are beginning a brand new struggle to keep their doors open and employees are struggling for their very livelihoods. They need your support and that support is the only way to save our local economy. So a little inconvenience shouldn’t be a big deal.
Local businesses are the backbone of the local economy. They are the cornerstone of employment and tax collections. When we help them, we help ourselves.
The full effect of the economic shutdown ordered by the government over the coronavirus won’t be known for a long time. During the shutdown, the battle cry “Together, we’ll get through this,” emerged. Well, that was then and this is now. The new battle cry should be “Together, we’re coming back stronger.”
Safety and personal responsibility should be lessons learned from the cornovirus and should remain top priorities. But the time has come for life to resume.