SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The past year has been a wild one for Sacramento business owners.
Jennifer Canfield owns Laughs Unlimited in Old Sacramento. She said more and more patrons are coming back to the club and it’s a welcomed sight.
“It’s been quite a ride. I’ve been ready to get off for a long time now,” she said.
She’s doing things a little differently now by holding shows both inside and out.
“Everything worked out where it was like, 'wait a minute, we can actually run it like that,'” Canfield said. “Having basically a second showroom gives us an increase in numbers while still being able to stay safe.”
Greater Sacramento Economic Council President & CEO Barry Broome said he’s looking forward to what the community will see pop up soon.
“I think we’re going to have a very exciting period over the next two years because I really think the community is going to feel like it’s being rebirthed,” Broome said. “One thing about business owners though, they’re incredibly resilient, or they can’t build one in the first place.”
Broome said creativity and a focus on an online presence are the way of the future for brick and mortar shops.
“The future of work is something people were thinking was 5 to 10 years out. That future is now with digitalization, so we’re going to continue to push workforce and training systems to prepare people for a digital age,” he said.
He said in the meantime business owners should look for help if they need it. In the past, thinking of using recovery funds was unsettling with all the uncertainty, but he said now is a good time to go for it.
“I would encourage them to pay close attention to their city governments, what kind of economic development programs are going to come out of this recent round of recovery funds,” Broome said.
Canfield said she’s looking forward to Governor Gavin Newsom’s expected date of June 15th for a full reopen, but in the meantime, she’s keeping things as safe as possible and keeping COVID case numbers down.
“I’ll believe it when I see it," she said. "We really just have to go day by day.”
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