0820_AUG Comstock's Magazine 0820 August | Page 11

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
A Year We Won’t Soon Forget
PHOTO BY TERENCE DUFFY
This year started like most others, with many of us making
resolutions to do better and full of hope for the future. The financial
markets were humming — the Dow Jones Industrial
Average peaked at 29,551 on Feb. 12 — and the national jobless
rate was 3.5 percent in February.
In the following months, however, two of the biggest events
of recent memory struck hard, one causing almost unimaginable
loss of life and financial hardship, the other bringing muchneeded
attention to the continued racial and economic injustice
still so pervasive in our country.
The coronavirus pandemic and shutdown of most businesses
rocked Wall Street — the Dow plunged to 18,591 on March 23
— and drove the U.S. jobless rate to 14.7 percent in April. While
the Dow has rebounded 40 percent, bringing a glimmer of hope
about the future, the recession likely will rage through the rest
of the year, especially if we continue to see repeated surges in
COVID-19 infections and shutdowns. As of mid-July, the positivity
rate of Californians being tested for COVID-19 had soared to
8.3 percent.
Comstock’s has been covering how the coronavirus has affected
the region, both in the magazine and online, because we
have a responsibility to inform our readers and our community.
While some may consider the coverage negative, the reality is,
in addition to the economic fallout the pandemic has caused,
with more than 135,000 deaths in the U.S., we are experiencing
unprecedented difficult times — but we’ve also been seeking
solutions and the silver linings to our circumstances. In this issue,
we focus on what needs to be done to rebound economically. We
asked leaders from 10 industries that have been hit hard to offer
their insight (see “The Big Fix,” page 34).
These industry leaders continue to advocate for and share
ways to keep struggling companies from closing permanently.
One example can be found in the commentary by Lance Hastings,
the president of California Manufacturers & Technology Association.
He writes how Sacramento-based Interstate Plastics has
shifted its focus from making industrial plastics to protective barriers,
such as desk partitions and face shields, which are in high
demand by retail businesses and offices and are helping people
return to work. Another example comes from Garry Maisel, president
and CEO of Western Health Advantage, who writes that the
pandemic has led to an increase in telemedicine, and he contends
that will lead to new business opportunities and jobs.
But we’re also in something of a Catch-22. With the death toll
and COVID-19 positive test results continuing to rise, the restrictions
being placed on businesses to protect community health
are necessary. As we’ve seen in other countries, like Sweden, not
placing restrictions on businesses did not benefit them economically
and led to a higher death toll compared to neighboring
countries. The bottom line is if we aren’t healthy as individuals,
our economy can’t be healthy, either.
One key way to stimulate the economy is to minimize the
risk of illness: If people don’t feel safe, they are less likely to visit
businesses that have been allowed to reopen. The best way to
reduce infection numbers — and recharge the economy — is to
listen to the science-based advice of health officials. Wear a face
mask when in public, maintain at least 6 feet of distance between
yourself and others; wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with
soap and warm water; and limit being in the proximity of people
who do not live in your household.
The second big story this year followed the death of George
Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis. Across the country, globally and
in Sacramento, millions of people took to the streets to protest
the killing of Black people by police or while in custody — Stephon
Clark, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Terence Crutcher,
Eric Garner, Oscar Grant and Freddie Gray, to name a few — and
the Black Lives Matter movement became the most urgent topic
in the country. The collision of fear and anger, as Joshua Wood,
CEO of the Sacramento Region Business Association, called it
in his opinion piece in the July issue of Comstock’s, has affected
businesses, “many of whom have somehow survived a global
pandemic only to be crushed by a racial pandemic.”
In this issue, we asked veteran journalist Russell Nichols to
talk to Black business owners (see “Fighting for Fairness,” page
26) about their struggles during the pandemic shutdown and
protests. Nichols reports that Black-owned businesses have suffered
disproportionately from the shutdown and didn’t receive a
fair share of federal funds aimed at helping businesses weather
the downturn. Salena Pryor, president of Sacramento-based
Black Small Business Association of California, tells Nichols that
systemic racism has restricted access to financial resources for
the Black community, and she’s advocating to change that.
Sac Black Biz (@SacBlackBiz on Facebook) created a list of
more than 300 Black-owned businesses in the Capital Region to
encourage patronizing Black-owned and other minority-owned
businesses to help level the playing field, because our economy is
only as strong as our businesses — all of our businesses.
Tom Couzens
Executive Editor
August 2020 | comstocksmag.com 11