money to fund the placement of 10 outdoor greenhouses ( with the Town ordering an additional 15 to place outside of downtown ) using CARES Act funding . The greenhouses provided opportunities to provide individual table seating outside the restaurants during the winter season , when many of their dining rooms were shut down . ( And when COVID loosens its grip and the greenhouses are no longer needed for dining , businesses intend to donate them to local schools or senior housing facilities ).
Other COVID-related assistance efforts included distributing hand sanitizer from a local distillery and “ Open for Business ” signs to businesses getting ready to re-open .
Dan Stauss , owner of Memory Lane Antiques in downtown Windsor , said he appreciated all the efforts – big and small .
“ One of the items that really helped was the open flags . They created color downtown . They created ‘ Hey , Windsor ’ s open for business .’ They created kind of that buzz ,” said Stauss , who opened his shop in 1992 .
Installing the greenhouses was also a huge benefit to businesses in the downtown district , he said , as “ we ’ re all truly neighbors down here .”
“ We have people that are sitting outside . They ’ re gathering again . There are families that are coming downtown and , from that gathering , then they may have coffee next door and then they come over to the shop and do some shopping . It ’ s creating that pedestrian ambiance again , which is great ,” he said .
Stauss noted he ’ d been through trying times before , such as the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attack and the 2008 housing crisis , “ but I never experienced a situation like corona before , and it was scary .”
“ Coronavirus is one of those things where you don ’ t know what ’ s going to happen to your business ,” he said . “ How long is this going to last ? What are the ramifications of this ? Can my business survive ?”
Stauss said having Ashby and the DDA to turn to for guidance was invaluable .
“ As a business owner , you ’ re out here on an island ,” he said . “ When you don ’ t expect something like this to happen , you get very overwhelmed , and there ’ s anxiety in trying to make payroll , trying to have customers come into the door . When that lifeline is shut off , you need to adapt and come up with a different strategy .”
He said he ’ ll be forever grateful to Ashby for helping him during his time of need .
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