On the Mark: Small businesses try to stay upbeat

Tracey Goranson's "Hair It Is!" is the longest-living commercial business on Cromwell's Main Street. Tracey offers haircuts, perms, color, eyebrow waxing and a tanning booth to men, women and children of all ages. She's built a loyal clientele of locals and cabin people.

It's a wonderful career for Tracey, who loves working a mile from home and being her own boss. Once "stay at home" restrictions began, the Minnesota Board of Cosmetology sent Tracey updates, including the notice to close completely. A one-woman show, Tracey closed her shop and applied for unemployment.

"It's not simple," she said. "Depending on the last four digits of your social security number, you may only apply on certain days of the week. I also had to respond to State of Minnesota salon licensing inquiries." Since she also works part-time at Cromwell-Wright School as a sub, she had to figure that into her hourly wage statement.

"I'm surviving, but I'm tired of being home and bored," she said. "Luckily, I have a working husband who can pay my shop's electricity, heat, phone and internet bills. It's sad not to work. I miss my clients."

Cromwell Medical Clinic is headed by Dr. Shawn Bode. It employs Dr. Kelly Goeb, nurse practitioner Faith Peterson, and several nurses and office staffers. They are searching for a clinic assistant, a part-time clinical nurse and a CMA/LPN.

"Our traffic is definitely down. We are not taking on anything that is non-elective," administrator Leeanne Pelkey said. "But people are still getting sick and we do see them in the clinic."

There are follow-up visits and tele-health is coming online as well.

"There are always some hiccups when we do the visit electronically - by phone, FaceTime or audio/visually in real time, our preferred method. Medicare has relaxed the guidelines on what can be done in this fashion to prevent people from having to leave their homes."

Pelkey said they also space out appointments to avoid a lobby full of patients.

"We were operating at a fast pace, but now we're doing it slowly, with extra cleaning between patients," she said. "We're not sure how insurance will pay for this extra attention."

Several clinic staff also face childcare challenges during the pandemic.

"Three of us have children younger than school age who don't qualify for in-school offerings," Pelkey said. "Some of us have mates on shift work, so we're able to be flexible."

At this point, they are not reducing hours and the phone is ringing quite a bit.

"We have small projects on the back burners and there's so much behind-the-scenes work in taking care of patients with distance," she said. "So no one working here has been displaced."

Insurance agencies must also comply with the COVID-19 distancing requirements.

At Cloquet's Up North Insurance Agency, owner Aaron Peterson reports being completely operational but doing everything remotely. Three staff work via phone, email and video-conferencing.

"It's still a person-to-person business, but now I'm talking from my kitchen table," Peterson said. The insurance work is down from last year, as people aren't purchasing houses, boats, cars, ATVs or toys.

"We're doing some homeowners insurance, because some listings have sold, and a few people are shopping to change insurance to save money," he said. "It's quiet."

The economic ricocheting of COVID-19 restrictions has generated insurance adjustments too. Contractors who laid people off or have had to close down fully have suspended coverage on their vehicles. Some insurance companies are granting "shelter-in-place" discounts. AllState and Progressive are giving back 15 percent on auto insurance premiums for April and May. Others are offering to either defer payments or some other form of payment relief.

Cromwell Mayor Sharon Zelazny said she's had to work quickly on all fronts to adjust to the COVID-19 strictures.

"Closing the Muni (Cromwell's city-owned bar) was the biggest blow for us," she said. "We have kept off-sale open and continue to employ the manager, but had to lay off our bartenders, who are eligible for unemployment."

City council meetings are held electronically. City Hall is closed except for very limited hours. Her clerk comes in one day a week to deal with items like water and sewer bills. She's closed the pavilion, community center and even the park playground.

"We've had to declare a local emergency that broadens our authority," she shared. "If something drastic happened, I wouldn't have to wait for council authority. If an opportunity for financial relief opened up, I could jump on it."

Keeping disruption of citizens' work lives in mind, the mayor has suspended late fees on water and sewer bills and offered payment plans to residents if they need it.

"It's the only way to put money back into people's pockets," she said.

She's also proactive on community needs.

"When the governor closed everything, I thought, 'but we can have food shelves.' I checked, and this was true. We worked with Ruby's Pantry organizers to keep both volunteers and visitors safe, observing social distancing, and leaving the pavilion sanitized afterwards."

Zelazny urges residents to respond to U.S. Census requests, which translates into both financial and electoral support.

How is a regional bank with branches in Barnum, Floodwood, and Cromwell living up to Covid challenges? Paula Diaz, a Northview Bank manager, said the bank closed its lobbies on March 18. Northview consulted with other banks in the area to learn best practices.

"We did not lay off anyone and those whose job duties allow are working remotely," Diaz said.

Their tellers are on rotation at drive-up windows. When in the office, they are practicing social distancing, frequently sanitizing work areas and stocking up on and using gloves and hand sanitizers.

"We're really busy," Diaz said.

Northview, like other banks, helps area firms apply for the Small Business Administration's newly introduced Paycheck Protection Program loans. The loans are designed to help businesses stay open and pay employees. After running out of money once, the second round of applications for the federal PPP loans opened up Monday.

Next week, we look back on small business casualties of the Great Recession for insights into what might come.

Ann Markusen is an economist and professor emerita at University of Minnesota. A Pine Knot board member, she lives in Red Clover Township north of Cromwell with her husband, Rod Walli.