A Survey of COVID-19 vs. Business in the Tri-Valley
When COVID really started to hit business way back in March 2020, few understood what effects the pandemic might have on businesses both locally and globally.
We were very interested to find out from the members of the Livermore Chamber, what the outcomes were as of Q3, 2021.
We were also fortunate to hear from Dawn Argula, CEO & President of the Livermore Valley Chamber of Commerce, as she shared some of the feedback and stories she’s heard from their membership.
In all, our survey received responses from 34 businesses.
As you may have guessed, the pandemic hit different types of businesses differently.
Did Your Business Remain Open During the Pandemic?
Naturally, we wanted to know how many businesses actually stayed open. Fully 97% of the businesses surveyed reported that they were in fact still open! These businesses reported that they were either fully open or partially open, to varying degrees, with only 3% responding that they were “temporarily closed” and none reporting they’d closed permanently.
How Did Your Business Fare During the Pandemic?
Some companies were hit hard economically, while some fortunate businesses actually fared better than might be expected.
Where Will Your Business Be in 6 Months?
In fact, over half, 53% of the businesses surveyed expect their business to grow in the next six months. While no businesses surveyed had closed permanently as a result of the pandemic, 6% of the respondents guessed that their business would unfortunately close within six months.
Are You Hiring, and Are You Able to Find Employees?
Hiring and employment stayed relatively steady, with 38% of respondents saying they kept all their employees, 21% let employees go temporarily, and 18% of business owners saying they’d actually hired even more employees.
Indeed, a very large percentage, 41% of respondents indicated that finding more employees was their single biggest challenge at the moment.
With sales down in many areas, it was no surprise that over 40% of business owners said that they needed more federal and state assistance to make up for the tremendous shortfall in the past 16 months.
Naturally, many companies were forced to allow employees to work from home, and many said they’d actually be sticking with it, in one form or another.
In fact, 35% of respondents said that their businesses were now able to manage with an entirely remote workforce (the survey did not measure how many were working remotely prior to the pandemic).
The single most telling stat in the survey would have to be the response to the overall economic effect of the pandemic, with over 40% of the respondents saying that the effect had been “extremely negative”.
A bit of economic hope nonetheless shone through in our survey, with 24% saying that the effects had been “somewhat positive” or “extremely positive”.
Have You Been Able to Meet the Needs of Your Customers?
No matter how you slice it, the pandemic had drastic effects on Tri-Valley business, and companies continue to look to an improved economic climate in the future.
How Did Your Business Fare Through the Pandemic?
Please feel free to leave your comments below.
