The municipality of Grey Highlands economic development department is looking to connect with businesses struggling to cope with COVID-19.
“We have already started to receive calls from our business community, some of whom are already in dire straits,” says Michele Harris, director of community and economic development for the municipality of Grey Highlands.
Harris says the department began making and receiving calls from local businesses this week to get an idea of how they have been coping with the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation.
“This [connecting with local businesses] has been elevated to one of our top priorities and we are working within our department on how we can use our resources to try and provide support,” Harris says.
According to Harris, the Grey Highlands economic department has also been in contact with Grey County in order to align priorities.
“We are constantly monitoring the actions of the county, provincial and federal governments, and are committed to delivering timely and accurate information about programs that will support these local businesses,” Harris says. “This advocacy for our businesses is going to be vital as we come out the other end of this.”
The Grey Highlands economic development department launched a new website in early March to help outline the local businesses that are available and what services they provide, as well as provide a hub of resources for local businesses.
“We are currently working with our business directory to try to reach out to all of our businesses that we have access to,” Harris says.
The department is asking all Grey Highlands businesses to complete the Grey County COVID-19 Business Survey, which will help provide insight into how local businesses are being affected and what resources they may require.
Shawn Ankenmann, owner and operator of Highland Grounds, a fair trade coffee shop located in downtown Flesherton, says the biggest challenge for his business so far has been the increased sanitation protocols.
“The biggest change has been sanitizing everything after every customer," he says. "We have always maintained best practices with cleaning, but as the COVID-19 issue arose, we became much more committed to keeping all contact surfaces clean and sanitized for our customer's safety as well as our own.”
Ankenmann says Highland Grounds is a ‘mom and pop’ operation and, since the start of COVID-19, the business has remained open, but with reduced hours.
“We shifted to take-out only before Premier Ford's announcement, so we've just continued to offer take-out only and closed off our seating,” he says.
He adds that despite the municipality making connecting to local businesses a 'top priority', Highland Grounds has yet to have any contact with the municipality since the start of the COVID-19 emergency.
“We have not heard from our municipality at all during the state of emergency, nor as the crisis was growing,” Ankenmann says. “We have regular garbage and recycling pick up, but there is no other interaction.”
Ankenmann says the bottom line for his business right now is keeping his long term customers and the community safe.
“Our biggest concern going forward is actually the well-being of our community. Businesses rise and fall, but the health of our community and our neighbours is far more important,” Ankenmann says.
