The Mat-Su Borough is looking for more businesses to respond to a survey about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thus far, about eight hundred business owners have responded to the survey, which represents about ten percent of active business licenses, according to Mat-Su Borough Assembly Member Stephanie Nowers, who is spearheading the effort to gauge the local economic impact.
Some of the businesses that have already responded are traditional ones with storefronts. Others are sole-proprietorships based out of homes, meaning owner have to find creative ways to try to continue operating. Still others rely heavily on festivals and other events, many of which have been canceled.
Nowers says a few business, like bookkeepers, are actually seeing an uptick in clients as businesses navigate federal aid programs and the associated paperwork. Most business owners, though, are struggling. She says the borough is looking to do what it can to help them make it through what will likely be a slow summer season.
“We don’t have enough funding to make people whole, but maybe we have enough funding—plus additional help—that we can at least…cushion the blow and help keep some of these businesses going.”
What that aid will look like hasn’t been determined at the local level, and even the state is still working through the process. Assembly Member Nowers says there are multiple factors to consider in crafting the borough’s aid program.
“Trying to design a program that is as fair as possible and gets people the help they need is really important, and also just trying to think of ways that we can position ourselves to be in a better place in a year.”
Options that could be considered include ramped up marketing for in-state tourism as well as more effort to pushing the Mat-Su as a destination to visitors from Outside. In the meantime, Nowers says the best thing individuals can do is support local small businesses while observing precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“If there was ever a year to shop local and not send our dollars out of state, whether that’s Amazon or the Hawai’i vacations, this is the time to go on a flightseeing trip, do that river rafting, go up to Denali State Park and [Denali] National Park.”
Most businesses will have received an email about the impact survey. The borough is hoping for additional responses to come in this week.
