business backgrounder | innovation
The Mother of Invention
Employers are experimenting with new innovations in the midst
of the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression — and
strengthening their ties with customers and community.
Andrew Lenderman
Many Washington employers are experimenting with new strategies as the impact of the
coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the economy. Virtual offices, mobile payments
and drive-thru family dinners with cocktails are among the many innovations.
At A Glance
A family restaurant
experiments with new
menus and products,
while farmers market
directly to consumers.
Mobile payments are
taking off, and even the
most traditional offices
have scrambled to go
online overnight.
Gina Martin, second from left, celebrated the opening of Racing Ristretto’s Coffee Drive-thru with her family last
year. The pandemic has brought major changes to Martin’s business, especially for Ristretto’s Coffee and Wine
in Maple Valley. Martin and other small business owners across the country continue to adapt to the virus and its
economic fallout.
Gina Martin’s family business is still alive. But things are
very different after the coronavirus hit Washington’s small
employers.
Martin owns Ristretto’s Coffee and Wine, a neighborhood
staple in Maple Valley. The governor’s shutdown order stopped
the coronavirus in its tracks in March — and much of Martin’s
business. Overnight, it was illegal for people to come in, order a
meal, and enjoy it either inside or on the restaurant’s cozy patio.
Then she got creative.
“Thank God we had a drive-thru,” Martin said. She also had
plenty of coffee and wine — two things people turn to in the
“I think that I found
more connection to
my community, and
more loyalty to my
community than I ever
have. The outpouring was
phenomenal.”
– Gina Martin, owner of
Ristretto’s Coffee and Wine
Bar in Maple Valley
24 association of washington business