Edmonton businesses praised for adapting to COVID challenges
Edmonton's business community is being praised for its ability to adapt to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a year-end interview, Janet Riopel, president and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, said businesses felt optimistic at the start of 2020 following years of economic struggles. She said new markets were being explored and the Alberta government was bringing in business-friendly policies.
That optimism soon deflated following the start of the pandemic in March, when 21,000 jobs were lost in Edmonton. An early survey conducted by the chamber found about 23 per cent of businesses had closed their doors as a result of the pandemic with another 31 per cent expected to follow suit.
When restrictions were loosened later in the spring and summer, the province released health and safety guidelines for businesses as part of Alberta's relaunch strategy. Riopel said businesses brought in many precautionary measures to keep people as safe as possible.
“I walked into the Hotel Macdonald and I had to take my gloves off, clean my hands immediately. They took my temperature and I had to fill out a form,” she said. “Where have we ever seen those kinds of precautions in the past? I'm very grateful for them as a consumer. I really believe 99 per cent of the business community have taken all kinds of precautionary measures to protect us.”
Susan Lovie, the general manager of Kingsway Mall, echoed Riopel's sentiments and said the mall's retailers were taking similar measures.
“Where there's challenge and change there's always an opportunity,” she said. “I've been very impressed by how the retailers have adapted and evolved and doing things like digital lineup bookings and pivoting their business models. I think it's awesome.”
Both the chamber and the mall had to make changes themselves.
Riopel said the first wave came so fast that everyone was caught by surprise and there was no way to properly prepare.
“We learned what we learned fast,” she said. “We learned carefully and thoughtfully. I'm very proud of the way this chamber team came together. We put a phone call to every one of our 1,900-plus members and said, ` What do you need?' Learning as you go is still a big part of everything that we're doing.”
Riopel said the chamber connected businesses with others that could offer support and they took regular surveys to keep members informed. She said requests for help were overwhelming.
“We just started to pick them off
Where have we ever seen those kinds of precautions in the past? I'm very grateful for them as a consumer.”
little by little,” Riopel said. “We started to develop this directory of services, we started hosting webinars of how you could take advantage of those services, the grants and all those things that were available.”
She said a survey conducted from September to October showed 85 per cent of businesses would be better prepared for a second shut down, a sign of the community's adaptability in response to the pandemic.
The province on Dec. 8 announced several new measures to curb the spread of the virus including shutting down casinos, gyms and dine-in services at restaurants.
Small businesses make up 95 per cent of all businesses in Alberta and employ nearly a half-million people.