Editorial

Most of those asked by BusinessWest to recall the early days of COVID — and what’s happened since — either can’t believe how quickly time has flown, or that it’s only been five years.

Mostly, it’s the latter.

Indeed, COVID now seems like a long, long time ago, probably because those first few years were so difficult and change-filled, many compared them to dog years.

We asked business owners and managers to look back because … well, five years is a milestone, and there is so much that has changed over that half-decade (see story on page 4).

Changes have come to small business and how it is conducted, in healthcare and the mental health of people of all ages, in education (especially higher education), and, of course, in how work is done — and where it’s done.

As business owners looked back on the seismic events of mid-March 2020, what happened in the days, weeks, and months to follow, and what’s changed (and perhaps changed forever) since then, some themes emerge.

Perhaps the most intriguing, if not the most discernable, in many cases, is a sense of pride in accomplishment, if we can call it that.

Indeed, COVID was something unprecedented. Business owners and managers had seen economic ups and downs before. They had seen times when employment was tight, and times when it wasn’t. Some had even weathered a natural disaster, like the 2011 tornado.

But this was something completely different. The state was essentially shut down. Workers went home with their computers not knowing when they’d come back (some still haven’t come back). People couldn’t go restaurants, movie theaters, museums, banquet halls, bars, breweries, malls, car dealerships, airports, sports arenas, their dentist’s office … for weeks, they couldn’t go anywhere.

In many instances, business just stopped. But then, it picked up again — only, it was different. And this is where that pride in achievement come in: the innovation, the imagination, the perseverance, the needed humor, the bonding together, even if people were in different places.

Businesses found new modes of doing things, new revenue streams, intriguing ways to pivot, and ways to keep the doors open, even if customers couldn’t come through them.

Well, most businesses, anyway. There were many casualties across several sectors, especially hospitality. The others? As we said, they found a way.

Sure, they had some help. Most small businesses received a PPP loan or some other form of assistance. But they didn’t survive on that. They survived on guts and creativity and a will to beat back a challenge unlike any other.

That’s what we’re celebrating — again, if that’s the right term — five years later.