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Photo courtesy of Robzor/Pixabay.com

Businesses in college towns, like State College and Shippensburg, often rely on students to boost their economies and support local-run businesses. As college students return, businesses struggle to survive

Susan Snyder The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — For 14 years, Lila Yoga has been a staple in a State College downtown usually teeming with people. But its bright orange and yellow handcrafted sign on Beaver Avenue came down last weekend. It’s among nine businesses in the shadow of Pennsylvania State University’s flagship campus that local leaders said have closed because of the pandemic, with others struggling to hang on.

“Everything here, whether it’s a restaurant or a yoga studio, is so directly affected by the university,’’ said Erica Kaufman, owner of Lila Yoga. “Although it’s very painful, it seemed smarter to let go of the space right now and reassess at another time.’’

While business closures are happening around the country, quintessential college towns like State College have been hit particularly hard. Their businesses are built around the university, which supplies many of their patrons, and its fate is their fate.

With its 24 campuses, Penn State is an economic engine for the commonwealth, contributing $11.6 billion to the state’s economy in 2017, nearly $128 million of it in Centre County, home to the University Park campus. Local tourism officials estimate the region has already lost $100 million in revenue from hotels, businesses and other venues as a result of the virus. The cancellation of Nittany Lions football this fall could mean the loss of an additional $80 million.

Earlier this week, many of the university’s more than 40,000 undergraduates began moving back to campus. But viral videos Thursday of maskless students packed together at an outdoor party caused the university to threaten to shift to all-remote instruction and send students home, as some other schools have done, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

It’s a touchy issue for college communities across the country, worried that students coming to campus from outside their area will cause a potentially deadly virus spike. Many colleges, including Drexel, La Salle and the University of Pennsylvania, have decided to stick with remote instruction and limit students on campus. On the other hand, for local businesses, a second campus shutdown could deliver a devastating blow.

“If we can make it through this school year without being shuttered, I think we can be recovered by next fall,’’ said Rob Schmidt, executive director of the State College Downtown Improvement District, noting that recovery also will require the return of all students to the classroom and 100,000-plus fans to the football stadium. “This school year is critical to how long it will take to recover.’’

Students return

Last week for the first time in months, the roughly milelong business district that borders Penn State didn’t resemble a ghost town. Parking spots were filled. Parents and students walked along College Avenue, toting bags of Penn State-branded clothing and filling outdoor seating at restaurants.

“It’s exciting to have people in the restaurant again,’’ said Curtis Shulman, director of operations for Hotel SC, which runs several businesses including the Corner Room restaurant and is now owned by former Philadelphia 76ers president Pat Croce’s hospitality company. “Our demand quadrupled in a couple days.’’

Every year, Centre County’s population swells by more than a third as students return. This year, 10,300 students are living in Penn State’s dorms, about 74% of capacity, a university spokesperson said, with many more living in the surrounding community. About twothirds of the student body typically lives off campus.

The university, which has had to furlough some staff and stands to lose $250 million as a result of the coronavirus, is the community’s main employer, its lifeblood, as it is in many small college towns.

“College towns, like State College, a lot of their economy runs on restaurants and stores and tanning salons that are frequented by students, and those are taking a huge hit,’’ said Charles Ballard, an economics professor at Michigan State University, where its host community, East Lansing, also has been affected. “They run on football and basketball, and those are taking a huge hit. You put all that together, and it’s an ugly picture for communities like this.’’

The borough of State College, founded in 1896, got its name from the university, then known as the Pennsylvania State College. Three of the seven members of borough council work for the university, including Council President Jesse Barlow, a computer science and engineering professor.

Council has had to weigh concerns of businesses and the university with those of community members and some faculty, who worry that bringing students back will increase local infection rates. The county has had more than 400 confirmed and probable cases of the virus.

“The university has done a lot,’’ Barlow said. “They’ve made a lot of preparations, but there is a lot of concern that has been expressed to me that it may not be enough.’’

At a borough council meeting last month, the issue was hotly debated. Member Theresa Lafer warned it takes only a few virus carriers moving into each apartment building to cause major problems.

“I see this as the beginning of a pandemic in more than one building,’’ she said.

Sarah Townsend, an associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese at University Park and a member of the Coalition for a Just University at Penn State, maintains that the school is not doing enough testing or taking enough precautions to keep the campus or community safe. The school should have tested all students upon arrival and should test 10% of the campus population daily, rather than the planned 1%, she said.

“If you are going to do this, you need to do it right,’’ she said.

Penn State has been planning the return for months and recently launched a campaign “Mask Up or Pack Up,’’ urging students to follow social distancing guidelines. It also had 30,000 students and staff — those coming from virus hot spots — get tested before returning to the system’s campuses.

Penn State’s plan “significantly exceeds the governor’s guidelines and has been developed with infectious disease, health policy and supply chain experts,’’ said Lawrence Lokman, Penn State’s vice president for strategic communications.

Borough council enacted a $300 fine for failing to wear a mask when required, limited the numbers of people who can stand outside a business, waiting to get in, and capped the number of people allowed to gather at a residence at 10.

Even some students said they doubted it would be enough.

“I don’t think it will be long before we get sent back home,’’ Emma Hurley, 18, a freshman from Pittsburgh, said as she moved into her dorm Wednesday.

Some students said they know the stakes and intend to follow the rules.

“I don’t want to contribute to anything that might cause Penn State to shut down or have a spike in cases,’’ said Andrea Prest, 18, a freshman from Chicago, after getting her picture taken at the Nittany Lion statue.

Commentary: Remember when essential workers were heroes?

Hannah Pollock Editor-in-Chief

When I am not in the newsroom (which is almost never), you can find me working at a local grocery store. It’s not glamorous work, but it pays the bills and the necessities — food, tuition and lots of shoes.

I have worked in the grocery retail industry for a few years and the least I can say is it’s an experience. I see the best and worst of humanity from behind the deli counter.

This was exemplified during the height of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. After classes were moved online in March, I picked up more shifts at work. Everything at the store had changed — more cleaning, fewer items in stock, more social distancing and less face-toface customer service.

I was no longer allowed to give out samples of our products and was outlawed from my favorite part of my job: Giving pieces of American cheese to children who accompanied their parent to the store. (OK, this may seem like a little thing, but this was my favorite part of going to the grocery store as a child. Talk about coming full circle.)

As the pandemic continued, associates received increased wages as our society praised “essential workers.” There were videos of recognition, free food, social media posts and extra gratitude from most customers.

Customers, while disappointed, were understanding that we were out of just about every product and did not know when items would return to the shelves.

However, after weeks of staying at home turned to months, the understanding and composure of customers disappeared. Understandably, people were frustrated that their lives were put on hold. A monotonous trip to the grocery store became like a scene in the “Hunger Games,” where tributes raced one another to collect supplies. After all, they just wanted a roll or two of toilet paper.

The patience quickly disappeared as needed supplies were nowhere to be found. Videos surfaced online of maskless customers yelling and threatening employees. The extra wages and free foods ceased. But the need to limit capacity in the stores and wear masks remain. The increase in confrontations and threats of violence was evident.

There are retail horror stories from just about every state: An unruly customer who does not want to comply with the store’s coronavirus policies, an employee who has to enforce these policies for fear of their health and job and a crowd of onlookers ready with their cell phones to submit the video to major media outlets.

These confrontations range from “Karen” meltdowns in the middle of the store to threats of shooting employees for simply doing their jobs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists tips on how to limit workplace violence associated with the coronavirus.

The workplace environment changed and felt physically threatening, as if the threat of contracting the virus was not enough.

I distinctly remember an early morning where a customer screamed at my coworkers and I for not keeping anything in stock. I am sure that this man was not that upset about our lack of chipped ham, but instead the lack of ham was the breaking point of a pandemic’s worth of problems. He was not wearing a mask but secured a vast variety of cleaning supplies.

A few minutes later an older woman in a mask with a small cart with milk, cereal, some cans of soup, a small can of Lysol and a box of donuts asked for the same product. I apologized to her and prepared for the berating, but she said, “Don’t worry, I have what I need! Probably too many donuts but I want them.” Again, you see the best and worst of humanity.

The essential workers faithfully remain in their workplaces — whether it is for their devotion to service, love for their community or a need for a paycheck. But how long will they stay? Who wants to work an oftentimes low-paying job with constant berating and even safety threats?

We are all sick of the masks and restrictions. We share the yearning to return to some semblance of normalcy. We will return to normalcy but until we reach that day, we must try to remain patient.

Afterall, it is the most essential, and most human, thing we can do.

State Police Briefs

Soybean crops damaged in Southhampton Township

Pennsylvania State Police responded to a report of damage to soybean crops Sept. 5 around 4 p.m. According to reports, a 66-year-old Shippensburg man reported damage to soybean crops. Police are continuing to investigate.

Warm, average August ends summer