Monday, May 4, 2020

Responsible RestartOhio for All Businesses

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine 

Lt. Governor Jon Husted 

Andrew Doehrel, President - Ohio Chamber

The Wooster Area and Wayne County appreciate your leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your focus on the overall safety of our citizenry is recognized and appreciated. Additionally, your development and delivery of information to businesses and citizens has been valuable as we educate each other on the best methods to manage the virus. We, like many of our 700 members, are eager to see Ohio return to work in a responsible and safe manner. To that end, your recent announcements in the Responsible RestartOhio plan are promising for many segments of our local and state business community, as some form of normalcy is realized beginning today.

While the reopening of certain business sectors is positive, there are still many that are left out and an uncertain future is shattering their spirit and devastating their financial statements. As a membership organization, we have realized a groundswell from a large majority of these businesses, stressing the pressing need to resume operations immediately in order to avoid permanent closure.

Wooster, Ohio represents the model small city community in the State of Ohio. Prior to the pandemic, the area boasted one of the lowest unemployment rates in the State, the local economy had grown to the highest levels ever, our downtown was a revived and bustling area and a diverse mix of local businesses supported a thriving community. It is our desire to support the reopening of all businesses, as each and every one is important to us. While this may sound cliche, many small communities like Wooster cannot afford to lose even a small number of these businesses that make their specific town a unique place that encourages community involvement. To that end, many of these businesses may be forced to close, if further operation restrictions are not lifted.

We respectfully request that all businesses be afforded the opportunity to reopen immediately under the requirements of the Responsible RestartOhio plan. While government oversight has been valuable in the early stages of this pandemic, we are afraid that further restrictions will further damper the American Small Business spirit that so desperately needs to be rekindled. We, as a community, are eager to support these businesses in a safe manner but need the opportunity to do so before it is too late.  

Sincerely,                                                       

Justin Starlin

President

Kevin Day

 Wooster Chamber Board Chair