Small businesses are facing down ‘summer of uncertainty’
Small businesses that depend on outdoor crowds and free-spending tourists aren’t sure what to expect this summer.
Consumers likely have a lot of pent-up demand after more than two years of the pandemic. But they’re also facing some significant financial headwinds because of the highest inflation in decades. And COVID-19 remains a looming presence.
The U.S. Travel Association, an industry trade group, expects money spent on travel — excluding business travel — in the U.S. to total $726 billion in 2022, up 3 percent from 2021 and
slightly above pre-pandemic levels. Many Americans appear ready to spend what’s left of their pandemic
savings.
But inflation might throw a wrench in their plans. Higher prices are making day-to-day living more expensive, which could leave less money for discretionary spending. Gas prices are up more than 60% from a year ago and hotel rooms and airfare are pricier as well, putting pressure on travel budgets.
Memorial Day weekend might offer a snapshot of how the summer will go. According to the Transportation Security Administration, an average of 2.23 million people per day passed through U.S. airport checkpoints during the five-day Thursday through Monday holiday period. That was 9% lower than the same five days in 2019, but up 24% from the same days last year.
Businesses are also struggling with inflation — raw materials are finished goods are more expensive and workers are demanding higher pay. Owners have been forced to raise prices or cut back on some services.
“It’s a summer of uncertainty,” said Ray Keating, chief economist with advocacy group the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. “Inflation is a major worry and tied to that is increases in costs small businesses are seeing from their own vendors and suppliers. There’s a tight labor market. It’s a tough mix.”
Jack Morey’s family has owned and operated Morey’s Piers & Beachfront
Water Parks, three boardwalk amusement parks along the waterfront in The Wildwoods, New Jersey, for two generations. Morey said the last two years have been devastating for his businesses, due to shutdowns and COVID-19 restrictions and a lack of staff.
This year, restrictions have been dropped and Morey has been able to fully staff up again. But payroll costs and all other expenses are “through the roof,” so he’s had to raise prices. Morey is unsure whether his base of mostly workingclass families will come back to the parks because they’re facing higher prices for everything from grocer
valued at more than $900 million.
Kenyon’s operation’s ‘bursting at the seams’
The company has been in its current home in an industrial park near Clinton’s border with Westbrook for more than two decades. The 30,000-square-foot facility is “bursting at the seams,” according Williams, although the company has no immediate plans to expand its existing space or move to another facility.
“It is very costly to move and the workforce that we have are very talented, so moving would not only uproot the machinery and other aspects of the business, but we could not bring all of the people that make this company what it is,” Williams said. “We haven’t made efforts to seek a new facility, but we are working to better use the space we have and improve our processes in manufacturing to help us grow.”
Members of Clinton’s Economic Development Commission “are very aware of Kenyon’s need for space,” said John Allen, chairman of the municipal board. Kenyon is a member of the Clinton Manufacturing Coalition, a subcommittee of the commission, a group that is looking to raise the profile of manufacturers based in town.
Inability to find adequate space to expand a manufacturing business in Connecticut is not unique to Kenyon. State Sen. Norman Needleman, D-Essex, is president and founder of
Tower Laboratories, which has a factory adjacent to Kenyon on Heritage Park Road in Clinton.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said the lack of space available for manufacturers looking to move.
Tower makes store brand effervescent products like denture cleansers as well as pain cold relief products. Needleman said he has been looking for space to expand his manufacturing operations and despite looking on the Shoreline from Branford to the Rhode Island border, has been unable to find any existing buildings that would meet his needs.
Speaking in his role as a state lawmaker, Needleman said Kenyon “is an excellent company, the kind that we should be looking to keep in the state.”
From aviation to making grills
The business was founded by Theodore “Ted” Kenyon, who was a pilot for Colonial Airlines and his wife Cecil “Teddy” Kenyon, who was one of the first women in this country to earn a pilot’s license.
Though the couple’s business got its start in the Boston area, they soon moved it to Connecticut. And by 1958, the couple had moved the business — which was then know as Kenyon Laboratories — into a building at the Chester Airport, so they could park their airplane out front.
Kenyon Laboratories made aviation and marine instruments, but also produced alcohol stoves for use in boats. Over time, Kenyon’s business expanded to include the development
of ceramic glass cooktops for boats, which became the standard for yachts.
Michael Williams’ father, Phillip, now runs Kenyon International. Phillip Williams is the company’s president and a co-owner of Kenyon, having bought it with some friends in 1996. Another of Williams’ sons, also named Phillip, is also a company executive, serving as Kenyon’s vice president of manufacturing.
The workforce of Kenyon is a close-knit group. Many of Kenyon’s 50 employees have worked there for a decade or more, according to Michael Williams.
Frank Palmeri of Clinton is one of those veteran employees, having worked for the company for 16 years.
“They really treat you like family,” Palmer said.