Southern Indiana Business July-August 2020 | Page 12

And for many employees, a future back
at work depends on their kids going back to
school. If homeschooling remains in the fall
but employees are asked to return, “What will
that look like?” Dant Chesser mused.
She said that in this early stage of reopening,
many business owners are planning for
the post-pandemic future by creating bestcase
plans, worst-case plans and ones that
are somewhere in the middle. Some business
owners are willing to look one quarter into
the future, while others are taking it week by
week, she said.
“It’s overwhelming if you think about what
this means, because every one of these decisions
affects not only their families and their
wealth, but every single employee’s families
and their wealth,” Dant Chesser said. “It will
never go back to the way it was.”
TOP / Liz Martino, general manager and culinary director at MESA Kids Cooking School,
leads an online video cooking class. After the pandemic shuttered the school’s in-person
cooking classes, MESA Kids switched to an all-online business model.
BOTTOM / Liz Martino, general manager and culinary director at MESA Kids Cooking
School, prepares take-home Easter cookie kits for curbside pickup.
Submitted photos
Getting the customers to come back
Kari Johnson, regional director of the
Southeast Indiana Small Business Development
Center, said she’s seen a growing
confidence in business and their employees —
especially since both federal and local funds
have come through to help financially — but
the next big hurdle is likely to be reassuring
customers that it's OK to come back. “A lot
of people are still holding back because they
aren’t sure what’s going to happen,” she said.
“How quickly business goes back will depend
on what happens medically.”
Johnson said her role as adviser to Southern
Indiana’s small business community has
flipped on its heels more than once since
the pandemic started, moving from damagecontrol
issues like staying open and applying
for loans to now getting PPE, implementing
health protocols and ensuring that loan money
is spent in a way that guarantees forgiveness.
She also found herself on the loan review
committee reviewing applications for more
than $1.1 million in either forgivable or 0%
interest loans that were offered up by Southern
Indiana city and county governments, business
alliances or private donors. Going through that
process, she said, helped her answer business
owners’ questions more thoroughly.
Like others, Johnson said she can’t see too
far into the future. “That’s so hard to call,” she
said. “I hope it’s back to looking somewhat
like it used to, but it's still too early to tell —
even though it feels like we’ve been in this
for five years.”
12 July / August 2020