Southern Indiana Business July-August 2020 | Page 20

BRIGID MORRISSEY
Brigid Morrissey, co-owner of The Root in New Albany, works to connect
local entrepreneurs and small business owners through the downtown
co-working space. The space features an open work area and amenities
available to members, who work among each other in the same collaborative
environment.
As people practice social distancing during the pandemic, it has put
certain programs on hold, but Morrissey is remaining positive about the
situation.
Photo courtesy of Brook Hollis Photography
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, what adjustments have you
had to make at The Root? During a time of social distancing,
how can local business owners and entrepreneurs
best stay connected and adapt to the current situation?
“I know every single business is having to adjust and adapt at the
moment. So whether we like it or not, everyone’s kind of on the same
playing field again. It kind of levels it out a little bit. The excitement of
that is fun for me, but everyone’s adjustment is not cookie cutter — every
plan and adjustment has fit the business and the industry and how everyone
is reacting locally as well as nationally.
“We of course have not been able to have any in-person events, so we
have had to obviously be a lot more careful about the public coming in
and out of the space. But it has allowed us to be more member-centric
now, so we have been able to beef up our member benefits.
“Another shift The Root wants to make is being a door, being a
resource, being an opportunity for people to get connected with answers to
their questions, or if we can’t help them, maybe we know someone in our
network who can help them. We kind of want to shift to be kind of like a
resource center for our area. I think people will be more wary about meeting
in person, but we definitely want to get in-person events going again
as soon as we can — in-person will never go out of style, and people will
always need to meet in-person and have that connection.”
20 July / August 2020