Aurora is one of many cities made of local businesses. With the current pandemic, many businesses sought a change to survive. Shops had to close, refigure new business plans, and even open their store for the first time.
Alvin Soto, owner of McCarty Mills Taproom, opened his store six weeks after the pandemic hit. The taproom initially opened from Thursday to Sunday, and added Wednesdays after the positivity rate went down.
As the summer came, Soto added part time employees and unfortunately things went south after seating became limited again.
“We had to let go all our part time employees. The only remaining employees were my son, me, and my wife,” said Soto.
Due to the governor’s order, other businesses were forced to shut down for two to three months. Once allowed to re-open, businesses readjusted their plan to accommodate COVID-19 policies.
“It was important to me to keep my employees and their families safe.” Barb Tews, owner of the Marmalade Tree, said.
Owners had to get creative, making curbside and mailing orders available to customers. While some sales were cut, others saw a rise.
Local owners have relied on social media and their website to keep active and engage with customers. The Marmalade Tree now offers a monthly Facebook live event for customers to shop on top of their website and social media.
With vaccines being distributed, most small business owners do not need to encourage employees to receive it. Most employees are getting the vaccines on their own, so small business owners are not offering incentives, but encouragement.
The pandemic was not the only hurdle businesses had to jump over. Shortly after reopening, stores had to board up from rioters. Shops were being looted and many in the downtown area faced severe damage.
Unlike, bigger stores, local businesses rely on the community to support themselves and their employees. Without having much community support, businesses relied on financial aid from the government.
In February, the city of Aurora posted on their Facebook page for small businesses to apply for a grant from the city’s Coronavirus Emergency Relief Fund (CERF). The emergency fund was 1.2 million dollars and each recipient could receive up to $15,000.
“We were very fortunate as we qualified for government funding, so that helped with mounting bills,” said Tews. “It’s still a very scary time as none of us are out of the woods yet, but praying things go back to normal.”