Wight Gift Card helping local businesses emerge from the pandemic

A handful of entrepreneurial individuals in Kansas have found success in starting businesses during the pandemic by leveraging customer needs and pandemic relief funding. Although this business plan isn't "foolproof," in Kansas and nationwide, the number of entrepreneurs who filed applications increased significantly compared to previous periods.

Business counseling for struggling entrepreneurs has been crucial for small businesses trying to get back on their feet in the aftermath of the shutdown. The Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program was specifically formed for Asian Pacific Islanders, who failed to find help because of language barriers. API SBP brings together different business communities to work collaboratively and pool resources. In addition to rent relief, navigating changes to PPP, and finding available grant programs, counselors have recently assisted businesses with social media presence and building websites.

Facing the economic strain from the financial fallout caused by the coronavirus crisis, Tenino is printing its own money like it once did in the wake of the Great Depression. The small town in Washington has issued at least $2,500 worth of wooden bills to exclusively be used for small businesses on Main Street. Thirteen residents have applied for the funds and $150 have been spent by residents on necessities as of June. Other small towns across the country have already sent inquiries to the mayor of Tenino, seeking to imitate Tenino's effort.

In Costa Rica, the Guanacaste Chamber of Fishermen, known as CPG launched an initiative to help local fisherman making a living during the pandemic. Most of them sold their product to hotels, but due to the pandemic, 140 hotels closed. The initiative, known as Arroz y Frijoles has helped. CPG buys fish from the fishers, then sell it at the farmers’ markets. ““Fortunately, sales have been constant, we’re getting out a few fishes, around 30 to 100 kilos per night.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses in Texas are struggling to stay afloat. A university-sponsored crash course might help struggling businesses find solutions catered to their community. Fifty-eight communities participated in the Regional XLR8 program sponsored by the IC institute at the University of Texas at Austin. The “secret sauce” for innovation the institute has used for decades involves getting people to work with one another as opposed to working separately.

The town of Tenino, Washington has begun to print their own unique money during the coronavirus pandemic to both ward of the economic fallout and help those who are facing financial insecurity. Similar to efforts from the city's past as well as that of other small towns, the locally-printed wooden dollars can only be spent at local businesses and for basic needs, with the mayor explaining, "Amazon will not be accepting wooden dollars.”

As the U.S attempts to reopen, restaurant owners from California to Florida are expanding their restaurants into nearby outdoor space, including sidewalks and parking lots. In doing so, they are able to offer patrons a safer dining environment, as there is more room to keep tables further apart and follow social distancing precautions, and it also helps restaurants earn more revenue than if they were limited to indoor space. Some city governments are streamlining the process, including Brookhaven, Georgia, which made it free to access short-term permits for outdoor dining.

The Corvallis-Benton County Economic Development Office provides $1,200 rebates for people to buy electric bikes at four local stores. E-bikes cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and are a more affordable option than cars. To qualify, household income must be less than 80 percent of area median income and the household must be a customer of Pacific Power, who helped fund the rebates. E-bike sales have increased with over 30 vouchers handed out, which also serves as a stimulus to the local bike shop economy.

The Hounslow council sent £20 vouchers to every household to help the local economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Households had about two months to spend the voucher, which could purchase products or services at a range of businesses from cafes and cinemas to retailers and laundromats. Retailers can use an app to scan the vouchers and eventually redeem them for payments.

To save dozens of restaurants in San Francisco during the coronavirus lockdowns, a restaurant owner launched an organization that "provides monthly contracts to its restaurant partners to cook meals for underserved populations." The organization, which has 160 restaurant partners so far, helps fill the gaps left by the government-funded Paycheck Protection Program.