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REBUILDING THE REGION’S ECONOMY: Experts in Frederick’s economic development offices share pandemic perspectives BY GINA GALLUCCI-WHITE
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down pretty much everything in mid-March, one of the few activities people were still able to enjoy was meandering trails and parklands, such as those at Thurmont’s Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park. Thurmont quickly became a popular destination for area residents and day trippers seeking relief from their home confinement. Thurmont’s Economic Development Manager Vickie Grinder says she hopes people will continue visiting the area, not only to hike at the parks, stay at the campgrounds and swim in William Houck Lake, but also to eat at now-open restaurants and shop at retail stores. “We are in a unique situation. ...We have been social distancing in northern Frederick County for decades and decades,” she said. “People come here to get away from it all.” Since the shutdowns occurred, economic development offices and commissions across Frederick County have been working nonstop to help rebuild the region’s economy. Richard Griffin, the City of Frederick’s Department of Economic Development director, said his office sent out a survey to city businesses early on to understand the impact of the governor’s stay-at-home order and how it affected their revenue streams. “We were able to determine very quickly that the impact on revenue was profound, particularly for nonessential businesses,” Griffin said. PHOTO BY MOLLY FELLIN SPENCE
“Hospitality, restaurants and retail were the hardest hit.”
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The city’s department of economic development office was able to
A few weeks into the shutdown, the city sent out another survey to find
redeploy money set aside for marketing and events that had been
out how businesses were holding up. They asked if they had applied
cancelled into micro grants for businesses. The city also partnered
for money from various sources, where their struggles were occurring
with the Community Foundation of Frederick County to create a
and what the businesses were doing to pivot under restrictions. Many
fund to collect donations from individuals and community groups to
noted they were moving to online or e-commerce sales. Griffin noted
aid businesses. As a result, about 50 micro-grants ($2,500 each) were
his office assisted businesses and alerted them to programs at the state
awarded to small businesses (with a staff of less than 15) who suffered
level and from the Small Business Administration (SBA) that could
at least a 50 percent impact on their revenue due to the pandemic.
help them.
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