Silver linings

There may be hidden blessings in a crisis

BILL SCHICKEL

Mayor of Mason City

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic drove a surge in new business creation It turns out that if a pandemic drives people indoors with little to do, a significant portion of those people will do something entrepreneurial

According to the most recentdatafromtheU S Census Bureau, there were 301 new business applications in Cerro Gordo County in 2021,a25%increaseoverthe previousyear Thisisslightly betterthanthestatewideincrease of 23%

“Our findings strongly suggest the pandemic surge inbusinessapplicationswas followed by true employer business creation with significant labor market implications,”economistsRyanA Decker and John Haltiwanger wrote in Atlantic magazine Withmanylosingtheir jobs,the pandemic provided the motive to start an entrepreneurial awakening

We also seem to be in the middle of a surge in manufacturing employment Just one example is the 100 new jobs created by the adaptive reuseoftheoldShopkostore for EV golf car assembly

During the first few months ofCOVID,Americanmanufacturers cut about 1 3 million jobs By the fall of 2022 manufacturers had added about 1 4 million jobs, a net gain of 67,000 jobs The numbers could further rise as firms bring more manufacturing back home to reduce their exposure to Chinese supply chain issues

There has also been a deluge of outdoor dining options Before COVID-19, outdoordiningwasmorethe exception Nowitistherule

It is exciting to see the summertime hustle and bustle downtown It has mostly moved inside in the winter, but it will not be long until spring when outdoor dining will be back in full force

The pandemic also saw a local surge in drive-through and take-out food service

Of all orders placed at U S fast-food restaurants in 2022, 85% were taken to go, according to the Wall Street Journal That is up from roughly 76% in the years leading up to the pandemic Among full-service restaurants, 33% of orders were to go in 2022 nearly double pre-pandemic rates

There has also been a dramatic shift toward downtown housing In the last year more than 100 new downtown housing permits wereissued Thisishappeninginpartbecauseoftheoffice space made available by people working from home

Permits for multi-family housing skyrocketed last year The100permitsissued represent an immediate investment of $10 million in our neighborhoods Permits forsinglefamilyhomesdoubled Meetings have become more accessible and efficient Zoom meetings which were rare prior to COVID-19, are now commonplace Hybrid models where you can participate from home are also com- mon For example, the public can participate in City Council meetings remotely orinperson Formoreinformation go to masoncity net and click on “How To/View Council Meetings”

The pandemic even showed us how robust and adaptive the English language is Words and phrases that were not part of our daily vocabulary became common How many of us knew what “zooming” or “social distancing” was prior to the pandemic? Even theactualterm“COVID-19” is new

None of this is in any way meant to minimize the tragedy of COVID-19 Many people lost their jobs, suffered illness and even death from COVID-19 This is obviouslytragic Ourheartsare broken by the loss

But the pandemic also helped our community once again demonstrate its remarkable resilience Al- bert Einstein famously said, “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity”That certainly has proven true for Mason City Bill Schickel is the Mayor of Mason City, Iowa Contact him at mayor@masoncity net