Humboldt businesses look to rebound after bus crash
Months after tragedy, enterprises in city trying to get back to ‘new normal’
SASKATOON Judy Plag has been relieved to see an uptick in business this month.
The owner of Humboldt’s Bella Vista Inn said she has struggled in recent months. She’s not alone. The Humboldt Chamber of Commerce says it has heard from several businesses owners who were unable to attract as much work as normal in the aftermath of the April 6 Humboldt Broncos bus crash that left 16 people dead and another 13 injured.
“We actually had people say, ‘ We don’t want to bother your community so I think we’ll just take our meetings and we’re going to go elsewhere,’” Plag says.
That had a significant effect on the inn, especially because it rented out rooms free of charge to families affected by the crash in the days after the tragedy. Plag wouldn’t put a number on how much the hotel donated to families through in-kind donations, saying only that “it amounted to a lot.”
Companies that had booked meetings and training sessions in the spring called to cancel, she said.
“We need to leave you guys to grieve,” clients told her.
Before the crash, Plag met weekly with company reps who talked about the latest deals in the hotel and catering business. After the crash, the reps stopped coming. She didn’t see one in her office until the beginning of May.
The rep came in and asked, “Is this OK? Is it too soon to have called on you?” she recalled.
“I just said, ‘Oh my goodness, what I thought was going on is going on,’” Plag said.
“They didn’t want to intrude on Humboldt grieving. But as a prominent business in town, we had to support the town, we needed to know the specials, we needed to know those things.”
Plag said she’s thankful so many people across Saskatchewan, Canada and beyond rallied around Humboldt in the aftermath of the crash, and she understands people’s desire to be respectful of the community by giving it time to get back on its feet before they resume everyday business.
“But it backfired,” she said. “How can we support our community if we don’t have the business to support it with?”
Stacey Poss, executive director of the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce, said she’s hearing from business owners that things have picked up this month and she hopes that trend continues throughout the summer.
“We appreciate everybody’s support and respect but, you know, we’re looking to move on and get back to the new normal,” she said.
“We thank everybody in the surrounding communities, the province, the country, for all their support and just encourage them to come back and give us a call, give our businesses a call and just, let’s get back to business. Come see how we’re doing.”
Humboldt Mayor Rob Muench said the city is creating a video to let the public know Humboldt is open for business in spite of the tragedy.
“Life is going on in Humboldt,” he said. “We’re not all doom and gloom here.
“People, I think, from the outside say, ‘Let’s just give them some space.’ But yet, life has to go on.”