BUSINESS & AG
THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2020
RESPOND
RODEO
Continued from Page 1B
Continued from Page 1B
what could help with long-
term recovery:
“Don’t overreact. Con-
tain areas of infection.
Keep the areas uninfected
healthy. Let the uninfected
areas keep producing while
the infected areas are quar-
antined. We should have
closed the state borders
instead of waiting until we
had to close people in. We
could have done trucking
transfers at the borders to
keep business running.”
The fl ooring company
reported it laid off 30% of
its 25 employees but 90% of
its workforce was working
fewer hours. And recovery,
according to the response,
could take half a year.
“All businesses need
to be allowed to re-open,”
business answered in the
question section. “Govern-
ment needs to announce
encouraging and scientifi c
statistics (this is NOT as
bad as was predicted, not as
bad as the fl u, being open
will NOT increase your
chances of dying from it,
isolating will weaken your
immune system, etc.) so
that people are not afraid to
go to work, to have people
in their homes, and visit
businesses.”
The owner of a small
digital marketing company
in La Grande shared the
lockdown has “delayed or
impinged” on family health
care his family needs.
“Lifting these orders
(allowing ‘non-essential’
medical visits/treatments)
is essential for the health
and safety of my family,”
according to the response.
One business applied for
a federal Economic Injury
Disaster Loan but did not
receive funding. Most of the
businesses reported they did
not know about the program
that can provide funding to
businesses experiencing a
temporary loss of revenue.
Three of the local busi-
nesses applied for and
received federal Paycheck
Protection Program loans,
which aims to help busi-
nesses keep employees on
the payroll. However, the
fl ooring company stated the
additional $600 a week in
unemployment benefi ts is
incentivizing people not to
work.
“A 20% increase
would have made sense,”
the response states. “An
EXTRA $600.00 a week
is ridiculous. Those people
are getting more money
than the employers who are
trying to keep them at work.
They’re getting a lot more
money than loyal, hard-
working employees who
stay, willing to see this time
through to keep a good job.”
You can access the
survey and responses at the
Oregon State Chamber of
Commerce website, www.
oregonchamber.org.
year or postpone it until
2021. That will depend on
whether the state is opening
and what the governor’s
phased guidelines specify.
They are cautiously opti-
mistic the show can go on
as it has for 74 years.
“We’re not trying to
endanger the community.
We’re not trying to bring in
the virus. We’re just trying
to ride this out in the hope
that we can have a rodeo
and support the commu-
nity,” Jones said.
The board has wres-
tled with the decision to
cancel or hold the rodeo
since early March when
it became apparent lots of
public events were likely
to be scratched due to
state-mandated COVID-19
social distancing require-
ments and stay-home
orders.
“The fi rst thing we
thought of was that we
would have to cancel this
year. That would have been
the easy thing to do,” Jones
said.
But directors considered
the economic and social
repercussions of cancel-
ation, it became evident the
“easy” solution was rife
with complications.
For one, Jones said,
18-25% of the total tourism
revenue for businesses in
Wallowa County, espe-
cially restaurants, bars,
and lodging, is generated
during Chief Joseph Days.
If the event was canceled,
especially this year, Jones
said he thought the eco-
nomic consequences could
be a potential disaster for
business.
“You might just as well
hit ‘em over the head,” he
said. “I think this year a lot
of people are looking at the
revenue from Chief Joseph
Days visitors as their profi t
for the year, like my family
did when they ran Russell’s
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
at the Lake long ago.”
For another, Chief
Joseph Days is more than a
rodeo. For many, it’s a time
when family and friends
visit. It’s time when former
Wallowa County residents
return home for a week.
“For the economic
impact alone, we just
couldn’t cancel,” Jones
said. “Then we began
thinking of all those other
things, and we just had to
hang on and hope.”
The Chief Joseph Days
directors are sticking
with the traditional, last
weekend of July dates.
And keeping their fi ngers
crossed that by then the
state will be more open.,
allowing generous crowds
to fi ll the grandstands, the
riders, ropers, and per-
formers to assemble, along
with the broncs, bulls, and
steers.
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