Foot traffic data from January shows there were 30 per cent fewer people in Napier CBD than at the same time last year. Photo / NZME
Foot traffic data from January shows there were 30 per cent fewer people in Napier CBD than at the same time last year. Photo / NZME
The current Covid challenges being felt by our commercial centres, our central business district (CBDs) and satellite small business hubs are immense.
As a council-appointed member of the Napier City Business board and a business owner myself, I am seeing, hearing and feeling the effects.
There was some relief recently thanks to the stellar efforts of the reimagined Art Deco Festival and the Government's announcement around additional business subsidies. These will be welcome shots in the arm for those at the coalface working to keep businesses open and shopping centres vibrant.
The indications we are currently receiving about the Covid response framework suggest a move to a reliance on self-management to carry us through. Supporting our local businesses now means they'll still be here for us when we need and want them in the future.
Foot traffic data from January shows we had 30 per cent fewer people in Napier CBD than at the same time last year.
For some businesses that may translate to a 40 per cent reduction threshold in income, meaning they are eligible for the Covid support payment. Others will remain ineligible while still facing significant drops in income.
Sally Crown.
Coupled with income reduction, businesses are facing challenges in finding staff. Maintaining a strong customer base then is vital. I've heard numerous anecdotes of locals choosing to stay home because of the operating restrictions around the traffic light settings.
It is a frightening scenario for businesses that want to stay open, which are otherwise viable and provide more than much-needed dollars to the economy. There are the social and cultural benefits of workers having security and routine in their mahi and the added value to the community of a feeling of normalcy.
This is especially important in the climate of uncertainty we are perpetually surviving in.
For those of us who have the means and can get out and about safely, we need to be doing the normal things we used to do - or usually do - whether we're working from home or otherwise: grabbing coffees, meeting friends for catch-ups, popping into town for bits and pieces.
We need to be helping retain vibrancy and the cultural fabric within our communities. The other thing we can do is support petitions such as that started by the Auckland Business Chamber (All Businesses Are Critical - Auckland Chamber) and reported in Sunday's issue with strong messaging delivered by Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce chief executive Karla Lee.
Lee advocates for all businesses, and therefore all workers, to be deemed 'critical' and Rapid Antigen Testing (RATs) to be used to keep businesses operating.
With the increase in Covid cases and modelling showing we are entering a wave peaking in the next four weeks, some businesses will be forced to close due to isolation requirements associated with positive cases in their workforce.
Who knows what waves will emerge once borders open? If our retail, hospitality and tourism businesses were deemed critical they would be entitled to use RATs to stay open by testing their staff daily and allowing those who test negative to come into work.
My understanding is access to such tests is improving. I know locally, businesses which were able to register as critical are being proactive in sourcing RATS rather than waiting for them to be supplied by the Government, which would be the preference.
If it allows them to keep the wheels turning, why shouldn't it be a tool every business can use? In my mind, we should be using the tools that are available to minimise the impact on our businesses and community.
The use of RATs reinforces indications we are being given that the Covid response framework now relies on each of us self-managing. To do your bit you can stay active in your business community, continue to shop local, frequent our hospo offerings, and petition the Government to allow all businesses to be deemed critical and use RAT testing to stay open and viable.
