The compelling argument by Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber President & CEO Arthur Havlicek helped seal the deal for the Berrien County Board today as they have adopted a pair of resolutions dealing with restrictions impacting the county’s restaurants and bars, supporting local businesses that have struggled through the pandemic and various state constraints.
The County Board of Commissioners today adopted two resolutions in support of local businesses following the strong urging of Havlicek.
The first resolution encourages the state to adopt a new, regional approach to any proposed or ongoing restrictions. The second declares March to be “Restaurant Month” throughout Berrien County. Both resolutions passed with unanimous approval, a move signaling the Commission’s strong display of support for the local business community. Havlicek joined the meeting to specifically speak in support of adopting the resolutions.
Havlicek told commissioners, “As the Voice for Business in the region, our Chamber is strongly encouraging you to adopt the resolution urging the Governor to institute a new, regional approach to restrictions.”
He cited a number of statistics to demonstrate the progress the state and local communities have made in not only understanding the virus, but how to fight it:
- Since the peak of the surge last fall, hospital capacity has plummeted from 20.1-percent to 4-percent…
- Cases have dropped from 747 per million residents to 48 per million…
- Percent COVID positivity rate has dropped from its peak of 15.7-percent to 3.4-percent.
Even more encouragingly, Havlicek added, more than 2.6 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed in the state. Almost 675,000 Michigan citizens have been fully vaccinated and 41-percent of people over the age of 75 have had at least one dose. In Berrien County alone, over 30,000 residents have been vaccinated, representing nearly 20-percent of the local population.
Havlicek told the County Board, “While there’s much more work to be done, it’s clear we are at least on the pathway out of this public health crisis,” adding, “So, with hospital capacity and vaccination rates improving, and the positivity rates declining, why aren’t our restrictions declining as well?”
He pointed to dining in particular which had a statewide 75 day ban on indoor dining until February 1st and currently has a 25-percent capacity limit and 10 pm curfew until March 29th. Havlicek says even with the relaxed restrictions, 25-percent is “not financially viable for many area restaurants.”
The Chamber leader says, “The vast majority of other states have learned the lessons from those early days [of the pandemic] and adopted rules that do not close down entire segments of the economy, or entire industries for indefinite periods of time.”
He pointed to Indiana’s plan in particular, which sets restrictions on a county-by-county basis and has been, on average, less restrictive than Michigan. Indiana restaurants remained open this past fall and their statewide positivity rate is 4.1-percent. St. Joseph County, home to South Bend, is even lower than ours at 3.17-percent.
Havlicek contends, “This highlights one of the key challenges Berrien County businesses have had to face which businesses in a vast majority of Michigan’s 83 other counties have not: direct competition with another state due to our proximity to the border.”
He then stressed the impact this has had on many local businesses, particularly those in the leisure and hospitality industry. According to data gathered by the Benton Harbor-based Kinexus Group, leisure and hospitality accounted for 45.6-percent of Berrien County job losses year-over-year in December. The local unemployment rate is around 5.4-percent and could be even higher when you factor in the sharp decline in the labor force.
Havlicek says, “As we approach Michigan’s one year anniversary of ‘two weeks to flatten the curve,’ we must demand a new approach that values local input; takes cases, vaccinations, seasonality, and regional differences into consideration; and sets clear benchmarks for the easing of restrictions on businesses.”
The Board of Commissioners had previously sent a resolution to the Governor last April requesting a regionalized response to COVID-19 and have debated sending another during the last few meetings. This time, the resolution passed with overwhelming support.
Havlicek also requested the Commission adopt a resolution declaring March “Restaurant Month” throughout the County, saying it would drive much needed consumer spending towards a still struggling industry.
He notes, “Recently, our counterparts at the Greater Niles Chamber and Niles DDA partnered to declare March 1st – 7th the first-ever “Restaurant Week” in the community of Niles,” and suggests, “We at the Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber would like to bring this great idea to more communities across Berrien and we believe the effort would be bolstered greatly by this Board of Commissioners issuing an official resolution to make it county wide.”
That resolution also passed with unanimous support and will be forwarded to all local municipalities for possible action by their elected officials. It encourages citizens to frequent area restaurants with dine-in or take-out business throughout the month of March and beyond.
Havlicek says the Chamber will now work to encourage their members – and all area restaurants – to create specific specials and promotions in celebration of the event. They’ll also work with individual municipalities to declare one week in March “Restaurant Week” for their respective community if they desire.
