In recognition of National Small Business Month, a panel of eight local entrepreneurs shared the challenges overcome and changes made throughout the pandemic during Thursday’s virtual Rooster Booster.
Candance Castlen Brake, Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, commended the panelists for their ability to not only survive but also thrive in the face of adversity.
“We are celebrating those very people, and the resilience of our small business community,” Brake said. “You all have been the foundation of our economy since the beginning. You have been the people who wake up every morning and make your dreams come true. Last year was an incredible year for most of us, and here at the Chamber, we watched you all dig deep, and innovate, and get through something we hope we never have to experience again.”
Suzanne Cecil White, owner of Cecil Farms Produce and White Chateau, said her event venue had only been up and running for a year when she was forced to cancel all of her scheduled events for a two-and-a-half month period.
That hurt for a moment, she said, but she dug deep to “mentally coach herself” to keep going.
“I told myself, ‘Focus on what’s in front of you right now.’ It was spring, and I thought, ‘OK, Cecil Farms Produce.’ There was a local FFA group that had a greenhouse full of plants, and they weren’t allowed to sell them due to the COVID restrictions,” White said. “Without even thinking, I bought the whole greenhouse of plants. That turned into a massive amount of success for us for that moment in the spring. What it led to more largely was, it showed me my potential.”
By helping others who were falling on hard times, Jason Tanner — owner of Tanner+West and Tanner Publishing, and co-founder of Owensboro Times — stumbled upon an unexpected success story.
“We had this mindset that we weren’t going to operate from a scarcity mindset. We were going to operate as though we had everything we needed and jobs were coming in,” he said. “What that translated into was, if somebody needed help, we were going to help them, even if they didn’t have the money for it.”
When Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum Executive Director Chris Joslin reached out for some lighting material to use for virtual museum tours, Tanner volunteered to shoot the whole thing at no cost. The two began bouncing ideas off each other over time, which led to a unique partnership and business opportunity for the two entities when they took over publication of the international Bluegrass Unlimited magazine.
Sally Ward, owner of Welborn’s Floral and Events, said she was forced to change her entire business model to stay successful. When customers couldn’t come inside the store to shop, she and her team began holding online classes and delivering products to customers’ doorsteps.
“We came up with Kid Kits that we cut up and could deliver to peoples’ houses so kids could have something to do,” she said. “I think all of us went into somewhat of a survival mode. It made us go into situations we weren’t necessarily comfortable with, but it made us realize a lot about ourselves during that time.”
The biggest issue Niko’s Bakery owner Matt Weafer saw for customers was a lack of product in the grocery stores. Customers couldn’t get meat for steaks and burgers and, at the same time, local distributors were sitting on tons of meat they couldn’t sell to closed-down restaurants.
“We teamed up with them and pretty much opened a butcher shop inside of our bakery,” he said. “We added dinner and family entrees as well. It was something we’d always wanted to do, but hadn’t yet. Now we have a whole line of dinner entrees.”
Weafer said he’s continued to be blown away by the support his restaurant received from the community along the way.
Wilson’s Family Pharmacy Owner Jigna Patel Wilson agreed with Weafer, commending the community for sticking with her small business at a time when it was hard to find answers, and perhaps even more difficult to find personal protective equipment.
One of the only pharmacies in town without a drive-thru, Wilson said, “I’m so grateful for the support we received as a small business. The community said, ‘OK, we’re going to support her.’”
Having to switch from in-person interaction to virtual was a challenge faced by most of the business owners. Natasha Stanley, owner of Bella Ragazza Boutique, said she pushed all of her inventory to her company’s website as soon as she realized her brick-and-mortar location would have to close.
She and her team began delivering clothing and accessories to customers and doing live shopping videos.
“It changed our business completely,” she said. “I told my husband, ‘There’s no plan B for me. We definitely got creative in letting this pandemic happen for us, and we came out way ahead.”
Real Hacienda Owner Armando Ortiz said it was difficult not knowing what was going to happen. His company switched from serving 95% of his customers within the walls of his establishment to 100% carryout orders. He said the restaurant was blessed to have been able to survive those hard times when so many others didn’t make it.
Ortiz also provided meals to the struggling families of his community on multiple occasions.
“I think that’s what great entrepreneurs do,” said panel moderator Madison Silvert. “They take a really bad situation — in this case, a global pandemic ‚ and say, ‘How am I going to be better as a result of this horrible thing going on?’”
As for heading into the new normal, Byron & Barclay owner Jessica Woods said she was excited to see downtown Owensboro starting to come alive again.
“You can see the city bustling almost and starting to get there again,” she said. “Everybody’s out and enjoying the warm weather, supporting their community at restaurants and shops … we’ve just seen so much support from the community, and I know that it’s just going to continue as things start opening back up even more.”
