PODCAST: Sammamish Business Community and COVID-19
Along with the rest of the world, Sammamish is continuing to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Many local businesses, including restaurants, shops, even the Sammamish Farmers Market have had to reinvent their business model to survive. In the earlier days of the pandemic many businesses closed or severely limited the functioning of their facilities.
Local business owners had to adapt to the changing conditions by providing safe experiences their customers and employees. As the status of the pandemic changes daily, reassessments and reevaluations of circumstances are crucial to staying open and operational. The virus has impacted almost every aspect of the workforce including workplace conditions. Much of once in-person and collaborative work now take place at home and behind a screen through video calls and online conferences. While many businesses have reported a significant decrease in sales, some have thrived in this new economy.
When we reported on local businesses in our May 4th episode, some business owners shared their struggles of continuing to provide services to customers in our community and how it was increasingly harder to keep afloat and in operation. Nonetheless, most took the step to limit face to face interaction to continue providing their services; some of the changes included more take-out options for restaurants, or for other businesses, just transitioning to full online services.
Despite times of uncertainty and struggle, businesses in Sammamish have been building resilience and persist in making sure members in our community feel and are safe when going outside their homes. It is difficult to determine what normal will look like in the coming months, but as of July 2020, the community is maintaining the best safety measures possible.
In this episode, we talk to the Sammamish Independent’s Maddie Alfonso, as well as other community business members as we explore how local businesses are continuing to survive and in some cases even thrive many months into the challenge of operating a business during a pandemic.
For further reading:
Amidst pandemic, some local businesses are thriving
