Chicopee chamber chief believes the ‘new normal’ hasn’t yet arrived

May 27, 2020 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

CHICOPEE – While many people are speaking about the “new normal” for business and employment, Julie Copoulos, the executive director of the Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce, believes the nation hasn’t yet arrived at the new normal.

She told Reminder Publishing Chicopee has a wide mix of businesses from manufacturing to small retail and said, “Most businesses respect Gov. Baker’s decision to re-open the economy slowly.”

She added she hasn’t seen “a lot of pushback” from chamber members about the phased-in approach.

Chamber members have expressed concern about keeping their workforces intact. Copoulos said businesses are “very sensitive” about the issue.

“It is their intention, their hope, to bring people back over the next eight weeks,” she said.

Copoulos added it has been a “humbling” experience for her to listen to business owners express their concern about their employees.

Overall, she added many business owners have spoken of being “apprehensive” about the future.

The federal Paycheck Protection loan program has been helping businesses but as the effects of that program diminish, businesses will be making “long term decisions involving their workforce,” she explained.

“We haven’t seen the long-term impacts. It’s just started,” she said.

She believes many businesses will undergo restructuring under the requirements of social distancing. Copoulos believes restaurants, for example, will be greatly affected.

With businesses greatly restricted about use of offices at this time, working at home will continue and Copoulos wonders how that will affect commercial real estate.  She also is concerned about the effect on home sales the pandemic will have.

“Some people will be wiped down to zero and will have to build themselves back up,” she predicted.

There will be businesses, though, that will grow at this time such as information technology and internet service providers, she believes. 

Copoulos thinks that additional federal support to the states will be necessary. With the successful development and implementation of a vaccine still believed to be a year away, Copoulos believes it is uncertain how long the state government can support “an uncertain economy.”

She said one chamber member has said the state will have to look at the various state unfunded mandates and how they affect strapped cities and towns, as well as examining their own staffing levels and budgets.

 In response to the pandemic, the chamber has been offering a number of programs to support its business members. For more information go to www.chicopeechamber.org.

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