When there is a major disruption in the market, area businesses have shown they are up for the challenge of adapting and finding a way to continue to serve customers with their products and services.

The onslaught of COVID-19 has brought challenges for every business. Whether it’s keeping products on the shelves for grocery stores, adjusting to curbside and pick-up service for restaurants or helping employees adjust to and successfully work from home, the changes brought on by the coronavirus have touched everyone in one way or another.

There are a couple of local businesses and organizations that have stepped up to the plate in creating new ways to serve their customers.

The Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce quickly took to conference calls and Zoom meetings to continue serving their members and the business community after the COVID-19 virus made its way to our community. From calls about Small Business Administration loans and how to apply for them to webinars on how to better market your website during this time, the chamber has stepped up and out with a proactive approach to support their members during this challenging time.

Billy’s Italian Restaurant and Beechwood Bar & Grill have both created “at-home kits” that allow diners to pick up food from the restaurant that diners can then prepare at home. Billy’s offers at-home pizza kits, which have quickly become an area favorite with local Vicksburg children and Beechwood offers at-home grill packs fully equipped with four steaks, four wrapped potatoes for the oven, four salads and Beechwood’s own house-made steak seasoning and au-jus sauce. What fun and great options for those who would like to cook at home but do not want to venture to the store.

And a combination of three Vicksburg establishments recently joined forces to create Downtown Provisions — a grocery store and family meal service produced by 10South Rooftop Bar & Grill, Cottonwood Public House and Key City Brewing. Of Downtown Provisions offerings, one is rolls of toilet paper, which has become a hot commodity during the pandemic.

This is just a short list of some of the businesses that have stepped up to the plate during this time. There are many more, and like most in the community, I look forward to returning to some form of normalcy, both in personal life and in business.

But when I look back on the last four weeks, there are a couple of really good and creative ideas that have sparked from this situation that give us all a reason to be thankful for and proud of our local businesses and organizations.

 

Catherine Boone Hadaway is publisher of The Vicksburg Post. She can be reached at catherine.hadaway@vicksburgpost.com.