Industry Scan
As we move toward a gradual recovery from COVID-19, the business landscape remains ever-changing. When first contacting member businesses representing different industries, we sought to gain a hopeful perspective on how they’re doing and what impacts the vaccine rollout and Low Risk categorization in our county has had on their business operations and workplace. However, we once again find ourselves on the path to (likely) High Risk categorization effective April 23rd, 2021. The change is upsetting, rightfully so, but serves a reminder to remain diligent in keeping up with standards that keep businesses, their customers, and everyone in the community safe so that we can once again steer in the direction of getting back to business.
We asked members from food service, entertainment, hospitality, and transportation sectors for to share insights on their business experience, industry trends, and employment opportunities. Here’s what they had to say:
How is business faring in your industry? What industry trends are being watched closely, and why? Describe any significant changes made in response to the pandemic.
The Eugene Airport notes an uptick in passenger traffic lately. “Over spring break, we were tracking at about 80% of 2019 levels. EUG is hovering at about 65% of 2019 levels now, but our airline partners say bookings for summer are strong. With the addition of nonstop service to Burbank starting May 12th on Avelo Airlines, and Southwest Airlines starting service in the second half of 2021, we anticipate EUG will recover more quickly from the pandemic compared to large airports. We’re launching a fly local, fly EUG campaign to encourage everyone to support these regional air service initiatives.”
The hospitality industry was hit particularly hard by the pandemic, but Mereté Hotel Management expects a return of business with increased vaccination and a loosening of restrictions on travel. “We monitor trends nationally, regionally and locally to ensure our hotels continue to perform the best they can given current market conditions. Trends right now that are top of mind include hybrid meetings – meetings with virtual and in person attendees. Another trend is increased leisure travel – this impacts our special offers or discounts, our website content and how we adjust hotel guest services and amenities to ensure a safe and comfortable stay. All of our hotels follow CDC and local guidelines along with our brand partner requirements for enhanced cleaning and safety procedures. You can visit our website for an overview.”
Cornucopia, a restaurant with locations in both Springfield and Eugene, reported that although they have begun to see an increase in sales as restrictions loosen, their sales are 35% – 40% down compared to this time in 2019. “The main trends we are focused on are keeping our guests safe while operating and streamlining our menu and operations as much as possible so we can at least break even or hopefully show a small profit even with the reduction in sales. We plan to continue curbside pickup and contactless delivery, while at the same time focusing on our indoor and outdoor dining experience. The significant changes we have put in place are expanding outdoor seating as much as possible according to location logistics, reducing our menu by roughly 40%, and really fine-tuning our off-premises sales and service”.
McDonald Wholesale services the wholesale food industry, which would include restaurants, hotels, colleges, and schools. The company was named the 2020 Employer of the Year by the Springfield Chamber at our Annual Awards & Installation event this past February. “It has been very difficult for many due to the mandates the State has issued impacting dining, schools, and resulting in outright closures. We are watching the restaurants as they begin to open to see how much customer traffic comes back and reaches, at a minimum, 2019 levels. We have assisted many operators in reaching a goal of having a takeout and/or onsite tent location to serve guests. We have also assisted the school in finding lunch items that they can put into to-go bags for their participating students. We also dedicated a website for listing who is open and to what capacity as the changes are both greater and less restricted.”
The Shedd Institute is active with private lessons and small group classes, both online and in-person. “We are moving into the next phase of our building remodel and continue to use our new music school classrooms. We have patrons excited to attend our upcoming concerts with our reconfigured seating following all state guidelines. We are continuing to do our work, connecting with the community and our patrons.”
Three Rivers Resort and Casino reflected on this time one year ago, when they were closed for about two months before reopening. “The executive team spent a lot of time discussing what reopening would look like and we decided safety of our guests and team members was our main priority and we would do everything we could to be the safest casino in Oregon. The feedback from our guests and team members has been tremendous. They really appreciate and notice all the things we are doing to keep them safe. To date we have not had any issues with COVID-19. Business levels have been up significantly to where we do not see any seasonality. We feel a lot of it is because of the position we took with regards to the safety of our guests and team members.” Here’s a glimpse at the measures they’ve taken and investment they like many hospitality and entertainment industry businesses have made to ensure the safety of guests during COVID.
- Hotel Rooms receive very rigorous cleaning, check in has been delayed until 4pm to clean.
- Cordless electrostatic sprayers are used to clean and sterilize hotel rooms, the casino gaming floor, restaurants, and office spaces.
- We have new UVC light wands that we wave over any surface that 99.99% kill any virus.
- We installed five UDVI air disinfection units in the ceiling on the casino floor that kills 99.99% of any virus.
- One entry way where we do temperature and ID checks.
- We require masks and everyone working the floor monitors for compliance.
- Throughout the day and night we clean the slot machines and other surfaces.
- We socially distanced all slot machines, either installed Plexiglas between them or turned them off to allow for social distance. We’ve limited 3 players per Blackjack table and also installed Plexiglas.
- Restaurants close at 10pm; the casino is closed from 3am until 7am for cleaning
With Lane County likely returning to High Risk category next week, we asked if there were any new significant concerns about how the change will affect business going forward.
Three Rivers Casino said they did not; “we will keep with our standards of cleaning that have kept everyone safe, honestly I don’t think there is anything more we could do, it’s extremely thorough. I do think we may see traffic lighten up a little with the change risk category.”
McDonald Wholesale noted the shift back to High Risk will reduce seating capacity from 50% to 25%. “This will have a negative effect on restaurants that are already limited in seating and many will not be able to afford being open at that capacity. This in turn may also make them reevaluate the kitchen and wait staff they have brought back. In likelihood, they may have to reduce staff. I think there is also a heavy psychological impact around the uncertainty of the future. Many express concerns that how this is being handled is creating a feel that this ‘never ends and gets worse’. How that will manifest itself will be something each affected operator will choose. This affects us as our relationship with the restaurants we serve is 100% pass through the less they order the less we sell and we have the same concerns as they do.”
Are you currently hiring, or do you expect to do so in the near future? What are your most immediate workforce needs?
Luckily for jobseekers, all stated that they are hiring at different capacities. Cornucopia has already begun hiring back workers. “Our challenge now is to find great hospitality workers to hire as we slowly begin to get back to some semblance of normality. They are becoming increasingly harder to find. We welcome any resource to us available for recruiting good workers and we encourage anyone interested to submit their resume on our website.“
The Shedd Institute is hiring on an ongoing basis for Venue Assistance. More details can be found on their website here.
Three Rivers Casino states they have lots of jobs they are hiring for, and yet have seen a decline in applications submitted. Their website is the best place for people to learn about Three Rivers and their careers page lists the position they are hiring for.
Mereté Hotel Management is hiring for many hotel positions – you can visit their website for current positions across the area and the state.
From Eugene Airport, with Southwest and Avelo coming to them soon, airlines and ground handlers will be hiring. Emerald City News and Gifts, the Willamette Grill, and the Coast to the Cascades Café will also be hiring as they return to regular hours.
Did you know that the Springfield Chamber has launched a Career Exploration Online Student Resource page as part of our #WorkReady initiative? You can view the page and submit information to add your business profile here.
A big thank you to all the individuals who contributed to this article:
Nils Stark, Cornucopia
Jake Vanderveen, McDonald Wholesale
Lynnea R. Barry, The Shedd Institute for the Arts
Richard Colton, Three Rivers Resort and Casino
Cathryn E. Stephens, Eugene Airport
Liz Dahlager, Mereté Hotel Management
