Elkhart County businesses react to new Covid-19 response plan
ELKHART, Ind. --- Business owners in Elkhart County have concerns about the future, as the county moves to red, creating a mandatory Covid-19 response plan or risk losing their business.
Even complying with these new restrictions may not be enough, if the state or county, goes into a second shutdown. A situation many want to avoid.
"Now if it hits again, and we got to lockdown again, who knows what might happen," said the Manager of Liquid Ink Two Brian Messenger.
Effective today, all businesses and schools in Elkhart County are to create their own Covid response plan, in an effort to stop the wild spread.
That plan must include information on:
- Sanitation measures
- Social distancing measures
- Staff and volunteer screening
- "Work from Home" guidelines
- Special business hours
- Face-covering requirements
The response plan hopefully, will be the strategy that will reverse the Covid trend in the county. This is very important because a positive response to this plan would prevent multiple local businesses from being shut down.
"I hate to see a lot of these small businesses too you know, and privately owned businesses going under for this Covid thing, because a lot of people will not recover," said Messenger.
Tattoo shops were one of the last industries to come back during the first shutdown, and they will be the first gone if their main clientele has to shut down. Their main clientele?
The RV industry.
"When they're slow, if they get knocked out of work because of Covid, then that knocks us out of work. Most of our money comes from that industry," said Messenger.
It is a trickle-down effect in Elkhart County, industries affect industries, but some find ways to innovate their business. They do this by making the most of an option that has always been there.
"We started offering curbside, and I think it's improved our business. I think we work faster, more efficiently, and we got people running food out constantly. We're busy all the time," said the assistant manager at Volcano Pizza Jessica Kauffman.
Some businesses mentioned these new restrictions will not change much for them. That, according to them, is because they have been on top of things even before a pandemic.