While much of the focus on economic impact in Kosciusko County from the Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak has been trained on the restaurant industry, other locally-owned businesses have had to adjust to the new reality of doing business, at least for the time being. In an ever fluid situation, owners and CEOs are having to tweak how they run their operations on a day to day basis. A few of those individuals were kind enough to take time out of their hectic schedules and provide insight into what they are doing to keep it “business as usual” or whatever that is meant to signify nowadays.
Ben Thornburgh, CEO, Big Picture Imagery Sign Group, Warsaw
“There are many things that we as businesses can do in this time, such as extending understanding and changing production schedules to accommodate parents who are now home with their children.
We as a company have seen our services to our clients and customers continue as we are approaching Easter and Spring. We feel this is in part to the American spirit to better ourselves, to press on, and to continue.
As we are bombarded in this moment, it is important to remember: This too, shall pass, everyone is being affected, and that we are all in this together.”
Michelle Smith LeDrew, Owner, Glam Boutique, Warsaw
“Friends, in light of the current situation, we pray that we all stay healthy, and want to surround ourselves with facts, and not with fear.
We respect the decisions for social distancing and for protecting those with compromised immune systems.
For now, we will remain open, but will respect all laws and recommendations going forward and update you accordingly.
Not only are these scary times in an effort to keep our community healthy, these are also scary times for our local economy. Please consider the ways you can still support your favorite local businesses during this unprecedented time.
Glam will be offering free shipping, free deliveries within the local area, curbside pickup and a promotion on gift card sales: a $25 gift card for $20; a $50 gift card for $40; a $100 gift card for $80.”
In faith and love,
Michelle
Scott Herring, Owner, T-Zone Custom Apparel, Milford
“Although the reigns of spending may be tightening up a bit for your company budgets, it doesn’t mean it’s time to harness them completely. Use this extra time you may have found by making some long overdue phone calls to balance the budget by sourcing your company needs locally.”
Michael Pahl, President, WinonaIT, Winona Lake
“First, we made it clear to our employees – I understand your anxiety but we’ll be OK. We’re going to make it through this. We’re waiving the short term disability waiting period so you don’t miss pay if you happen to get sick. We’re educating and taking precautions so you can remain healthy. If you’re experiencing issues due to increased workloads, we’ll give you some backup. Easing my employees concern, regarding variables we could control, was important.
Secondly, we made it clear to current customers – we’re still here, we’re helping everyone we can, and we’re prepared for circumstances like this. My team has state of the art technologies that allow us to remain very productive from home offices. In fact, last week my team averaged a 10 minute response time to all requests – even during Thursday and Fridays increased workload.
Lastly, we communicated to others in the community that we’re here to help. We are prepared to fast-track technology deployment that will allow you to make the safe call to send your employees home. Don’t let cost be the reason you don’t make the right call, we’ll work with you on payment terms and other areas because we understand cash flow and other concerns became very sudden problems.”
Additional Help for the Restaurant Industry
From Ben Thornburgh of Big Picture Imagery Sign Group:
“In conjunction with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, City of Warsaw/Zoning Board, we have been working on Open for Takeout banners at no cost for the food service industries of our community.
These banners are currently in production and should be available for pickup this Friday afternoon/Monday, at the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, located at 523 S Buffalo St, Warsaw, Indiana. Please keep an eye on the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce’s social media pages for further information on availability.
These are available as a first-come, first-serve that we hope will help ease some of the strain these businesses are currently facing.
Per the Warsaw Zoning Board and Kosciusko Area Planning Commission, these are being treated as temporary signs and will not require permitting. When putting these up, they do request that they not be in the public right-of-way and do not obscure visibility to traffic.”
Tags: coronavirus, covid19, kosciusko, locally-owned business, small business