(Business in Downtown Bend has been robust over the summer | Photo courtesy of the Downtown Bend Business Association)
Since the COVID-19 vaccines have become widely available, the local economy has picked back up again, and as a result, the 2021 summer season appears to have been successful for many business owners.
“The vaccine has helped people feel comfortable going back out in public, and that has helped our businesses and restaurants. It helps customers feel safe going out to shop and eat, and it also helps employees feel safe going back to work,” says Beau Eastes, marketing director of the Old Mill District and the Les Schwab Amphitheater. “At the Amphitheater; we would not have been able to put on shows if the vaccine wasn’t available. I’m thankful that the majority of Oregonians decided to get the vaccine; this is not the case everywhere. And in Deschutes County in particular; we’re at 73 percent.” He adds, “Since the outbreak of the variant, everybody is trying to do their part to stop or slow the spread of the variant. The mask mandate applies to all our businesses, and we are seeing more masks and social distancing outside as well.”
For the Amphitheater, an announcement was made in late August that as of August 29, attendees of shows in the 2021 concert season must bring proof of full vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test result collected within 72 hours of the show for each show they are attending, and within 48 hours of the Dave Matthews Band show on September 8. Eastes says the test result needs to have the concert attendees’ name on it; no self-administered test results will be accepted.
April Lawyer, owner/operator of Vanilla in the Old Mill District, says she observed what seemed to be a huge increase in tourism over this summer, which she says is probably attributable to the vaccine and people feeling more comfortable traveling. “I’d say definitely the vaccine has helped business. Bend is a hotspot for tourism; people want to get outside and enjoy the outdoors, so they come here,” she says.
“As far as being an employer, the vaccine has definitely improved business for me and my staff because it gave us peace of mind,” says Lawyer. “The anxiety as a business owner over the past year and a half was huge. When an employee had a sore throat or was exposed to COVID from a roommate or a friend, every day I wondered if we would have to shut down or quarantine.” She continues, “Once our team was vaccinated, it gave us a sense of comfort that we didn’t have to think about maybe having to close every day. A lot of my employees have roommates or friends who were exposed, so we’d have to quarantine. I wondered if I’d have enough employees from day to day to stay open.”
Lawyer says she is grateful that all her employees chose to get vaccinated. “I didn’t have to ask. I know this is not the case for many employers. I would respect anyone’s choice, but if I had employees who didn’t have the vaccine, it would have to change how I schedule.” She adds, “As a team, we have kids and elderly people we care for, so we have all been careful. My team all chose to get vaccinated; it was not a requirement.”
Mindy Aisling, executive director of the Downtown Bend Business Association, says that there have been more new businesses opening than existing businesses closing in the downtown district since the beginning of the pandemic. “Some businesses have self-reported that they are struggling, and others have self-reported that they have had their best year ever,” she says. “Restrictions being removed from businesses has helped, and those restrictions are correlated with low case counts, which also correlates with vaccination.” The vaccine allowed the government to remove restrictions on businesses, she says, which helped community members feel safer to go out to shop and dine, helped employees feel safer and lessened sickness within staffs. She adds, “We appreciate our community’s commitment to supporting Bend families by shopping local.”
Israel Love, owner of Xcel Fitness in Bend, agrees that the rules and restrictions put on business owners by the government is what kept people away and slowed down business. “The vaccine helped bring business back, but it was the lifting of the rules and restrictions that really increased business. People would have come anyway regardless of the vaccine if there hadn’t been all the rules and restrictions.” He adds, “Once we were left to our own devices and were allowed to operate normally, people came back.”
Since the onset of the Delta variant, Lawyer says she noticed an increase in mask wearing each day, even prior to the mask mandate being re-established. “It went from no masks to a few more masks each day, and of course now it’s a mandate again.”
Despite the returning restrictions, Lawyer says she is still seeing a good amount of traffic. “I think there’s a sense of urgency for people right now wanting to wrap up their summer. With school starting and the possibility for travel restrictions again, I think people want to finish up their vacations and travel quickly. It’s hard to pinpoint the reason for the upswing in business. We also have an influx of business because the concerts started up again. That’s bringing thousands of people back into the community and the Old Mill.” She adds, “But I can tell people are being more careful.”
oldmilldistrict.com • shopvanilla.com • downtownbend.org • xcelfitnessbend.com
