(File photo/northeastNOW staff)

By Angie Rolheiser

Hope and the Future

Hope and the Future: Local businesses gear up for a new year

Dec 30, 2020 | 12:00 PM

The COVID-19 pandemic makes 2020 a year many may prefer to forget but there is hope for the future. We’ve decided to make that the focus of our series of end-of-year stories.

Local businesses were negatively affected by the pandemic but most are using the challenges they faced in 2020 to move onto a new year.

Humboldt Chamber Executive Director Brent Fitzpatrick said businesses will be able to build on the positive results of the past year.

“It was a struggle there is no doubt but what showed was a gleaming light of the positive nature of businesses in our region,” Fitzpatrick said. “They saw what the challenges were that the pandemic was bringing and they adapted to it almost immediately.”

January and February are typically slower times so businesses will use those months to attempt to reset for the year ahead.

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While there is optimism for the months ahead, there are still a lot of business months to get through before the entire population is vaccinated for COVID-19.

“They are saying the entire province will be rolled out with the vaccine by September and October but that is 10 months away,” Fitzpatrick said.

His message of hope for 2021 is simply to have respect.

“Respect your local businesses and what they bring to your community because they do an awful lot,” Fitzpatrick said. “Respect one another as well, if all we have to do is wear a mask and keep six feet away, that seems like a pretty simple thing.”

Respect he said can help ensure the survival of one another as well as local business. When people choose to shop local, the benefits are community-wide.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser