On Monday, Senate Republicans shared ideas from small businesses and churches to safely reopen as Minnesota enters the third month with a stay at home order. Despite billions in federal stimulus dollars being pumped into the state, nearly 600,000 Minnesotans have filed for unemployment, and thousands of small and local businesses and churches, have closed their doors to the public, and some have closed for good.
“After hearing the Governor’s recent extension of the stay-at-home order, I must say that I am disappointed with his decision to continue the order mostly unchanged until May 18,” said Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria). “Small businesses across Minnesota are doing everything in their power to stay afloat. While some have been fortunate to receive some government assistance, that relief will only last so long. Minnesota communities are built around small businesses, and they cannot thrive much yet survive if the order continues much longer. We care about those who are at risk and vulnerable to this virus, so do Minnesota businesses. Our state doesn’t have to choose between saving lives and saving our economy; we can do both safely and smartly. I ask the Governor to reconsider the dial of his current order and to work with businesses and the legislature to hear plans on how Minnesota can responsibly reopen the economy and stop further economic despair for Minnesotans.”
Speakers at the press conference included a salon owner, restaurant and bar owners, and the pastor of a small church. They shared the various efforts they’ve made to re-open following CDC guidelines. They also shared what might happen if the business closures remain in place any longer than planned.
Senate Republicans also announced the formation of a Senate taskforce dedicated to economic recovery from COVID-19.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Taskforce (CERT) is to safely and efficiently reopen Minnesota’s economy in accordance with the state and federal public health guidelines. Chaired by Minnesota businessman Mike Vekich, CERT membership will include Senators from both caucuses, representatives from private businesses, health care, trade unions, higher education, local government, and the financial industry.
To share the sentiment of some small businesses, Senator Ingebrigstsen wanted to share an open letter from a business in his community.
An Open Letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
From: Michael Sieve
I write today as the owner of a small, family-style restaurant, the Brass Lantern, located in the Viking Plaza Mall in Alexandria, Minnesota.
This year I will celebrate 41 years of continuous restaurant operations in central Minnesota.
Since the shutdown of restaurant dining rooms that began on March 17th, we have spent countless hours anticipating the day when we will be allowed to reopen and resume serving the people of our community.
During this time, we have anticipated what will be required of us in order to present a safe, clean and functional restaurant experience to our patrons with great emphasis on social distancing and sanitation practices.
We have sought guidance from local health department officials and with that guidance believe we are prepared to reopen for business as soon as we are resupplied and recall our staff, all of whom are ready to get back to work.
It is difficult to understand why such extreme measures as are currently in place are applied across the state.
It would seem more sensible that in an area (Douglas, Grant, Stevens, Swift and Pope counties) with a combined population of approximately 74,000 residents and a total of 4 confirmed coronavirus cases, that the same metrics being applied to more densely populated counties and higher rates of infection would not need to be put in place. It is my understanding that several governors have taken this approach in their states, continuing stringent policies in areas of high infection and morbidity rates while relaxing these policies in other areas of their states.
We are fortunate to have a very healthy and supportive relationship with our local health officials. I strongly believe that they have the best way of assessing who is and who isn’t ready to reopen safely. I feel that we provide a far safer environment (social distance seating, employee contact limited to one person (server) and rigorous sanitation procedures) than any current big box retailer or grocery store where customers risk contact with possibly dozens of people every time they enter. My travels around Alexandria reveal large numbers of cars at all of our big box retailers and numerous local grocery stores. I don’t understand how these businesses are safer than what we are proposing to do at the Brass Lantern.
Immediately following the closure order a group, made up of a large number of restaurant/bar owners, was created in Alexandria. The purpose of this group was to share information and ideas about what the future might look like and to undertake practices that will provide for safe restaurant experiences. It has been an invaluable resource and demonstrates the resolve of the Alexandria restaurant community to weather this current storm and emerge better, safer and stronger than we were leading up to this pandemic.