As many of our businesses know, summer is a vital revenue making time of the year. Summer tourism dollars are what gets socked away to help with the shortfalls during mud season. However, Coos County got hit with a double whammy this year with not only wettest summer on record but also warmer winter temperatures and a low amount of snowpack. Less snow means less skiing, snowmobiling, and other winter recreation – which impacts our bars, restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality businesses in the North Country.

“The lack of snow we’ve experienced so far this winter has had serious economic impacts on folks and businesses, who rely on snow and winter weather to attract customers and be successful,” says Ruby Berryman, CEDC Board member and owner of Lancaster Motel.

CEDC has been hearing from many businesses who are struggling with the additional burden to cope with an extended mud season on top of summer losses, continued COVID recovery, inflation and energy costs. We have been reaching out to our federal and state partners looking for tools or avenues that could assist with bridging the gap to the summer of 2024. Unfortunately, the answers with timely solutions are limited.

Currently there are three solutions that come forward.

1. Businesses who have a current SBA EIDL loan could apply for the SBA Hardship program to see if they are eligible for decrease in monthly payments.

2. Businesses who have over one-year financials could apply to their local bank (or CEDC if not bankable) for smaller bridge loans to help get business to the summer season.

3. Take our survey and share with us the depth of which your business is being impacted by the compounding of the weather events. If we can get enough data, we could make a request for a disaster declaration that would reopen the SBA EIDL program for others.

4. Worried about your staff? State programs like Workshare with NDES provide an alternative to layoffs during a difficult time. Employers keep trained workers and are able to get up and running to full capacity faster, without having to rehire and/or train staff. Employees keep their jobs and receive unemployment benefits while their hours are reduced rather than eliminated; they stay partially employed instead of becoming

unemployed.

“I encourage all businesses to participate in this survey and take advantage of any of these measures if possible, and in the meantime, I encourage residents to continue to support their local businesses the best they can,” says Ericka Canales, Executive Director. “We are going to need to start working with businesses to come up with seasonal continuity plans if this weather trend is going to continue exacerbate our tourism economy.”