The COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact on local businesses, especially in the hospitality and tourism sector. Still, Grand Junction businesses as a whole have fared much better than their counterparts at both the state and national level.
“The fact is Mesa County is an anomaly in so many ways during the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis because our case counts have been low.” Diane Schwenke, President/CEO of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, said.
“[The Mesa County Health Department] was one of the very first in the state to start working on asking the governor for variances from his executive orders that would allow us to reopen sooner. That one strategy has really been what has helped us weather the storm better. We were one of the first two counties in the state to get a variance,” Schwenke said.
According to surveys conducted by the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce and posted on Survey Monkey, 86% of local businesses were affected by the pandemic in some way. For the majority of them it was less than 25% to 50%.
It’s the hospitality and tourism sector – businesses such restaurants, hotels and attractions – however, that have been hit the hardest.
“[Many of them have seen an] 80-90% drop off in terms of their revenue, ” Schwenke said.
The Rockslide Brewery & Restaurant, one of Grand Junction’s first breweries, was one of these restaurants struck by the pandemic.
“At one point we were hemorrhaging money quite a bit, losing it rapidly on a daily basis,” General manager of The Rockslide Brewery & Restaurant, Brian Oliver, said.
Support from the CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion bipartisan stimulus bill, has helped out many Grand Junction businesses.
According to the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce surveys, of the 70% of businesses that applied for a Payroll Protection Loan (PPL), 70% received them.
“The Payroll Protection Program helped out. That was a saving grace for us because it let this keep our staff and time to make those changes in our business model to accommodate the things to keep us alive,” Oliver said.
Although the pandemic has been a struggle, Oliver still has hope for local restaurants.
“I think when people come in here they know that if for some reason anything goes wrong for the night we’re still going to take care of it. We have that reputation. A lot of chain restaurants don’t have that value. What we really believe in is that there’s still always going to be a niche for being entertained. It’s about good service and taking care of people and entertaining them for the night.”
