Thursday, April 2, 2020
Member/Alternates Only Meeting
Virtual meeting via ZOOM
Minutes
Present: Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Mike Burrows, Ken Coate, Kevin Dyerly, Sandra Espadas, Fran Inman, Mark Kaenel, Pam Langford, Bill Lemann, P.T. McEwen, John Mirau, Vikki Ostermann, Bansree Parikh, Catherine Pritchett, Thomas Rice, Dan Schenkel, Kristine Scott, Lupe Valdez, Kim Wilcox and Ray Wolfe.
Guests: Mark Taylor
Carole Beswick, Inland Action CEO introduced Paul Granillo, CEO/President, Inland Empire Economic Partnership (IEEP).
Paul Granillo stated that the Inland Empire traditionally suffers more than other communities when there is a downturn. Attempts are being made to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on our communities.
To help inform and establish a baseline, IEEP conducted a business impact survey. The survey was conducted by CSUSB’s Institute of Applied Research. Describing the current state of the Inland Empire economy can drive policy decisions that will support our region’s business community throughout the course of this crisis. Participants in the survey will be surveyed again after another seven days for comparisons.
The survey hosted on the IEEP web site was conducted between March 23, 2020 and March 30, 2020 with a total of 203 surveys received. Cities with the most responses: Rancho Cucamonga (35), Murrieta and Temecula (32), Ontario (19), San Bernardino (20), Redlands (14), Riverside (13employees) and Fontana (12). Some 72% were from small business (under 50 employees), 28% from “larger” businesses (50 or more) and 12% (200 or more). Questions included were:
- Top 3 concerns which are affecting your business because of COVID-19
- Length of time your business can survive based on current cash flow and reserves without government support
- Changes being implemented to accommodate staff and customers
- Need for information about ways organizations can better cope with the pandemic
- Estimates of percent of revenue which may be lost, due to the effects of coronavirus
- Plans for employee lay-offs and/or company shut-downs
Some results are as follows:
- 71% expect to incur a loss of revenue
- 9% revenues should be relatively stable (real estate, non-food retailer, construction firm, trucker for port dependent warehousing or food & drug stores, advertising)
- 5% revenues will increase (manufacturer of essential products, deep cleaning services, real estate, non-food retailer, manufacturer of toilet paper, bottled water manufacturer)
- 15% it is impossible to tell (medical/dental office, commercial real estate market, non-profit depending on donations, advertising which depends on other businesses)
The PowerPoint of the survey will be sent to the membership. Please go to the IEEP web site to review the data http://ieep.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IEEC-Survey-PPT..pdf
The effects of this crisis are far reaching. Logistics and supply chains will be heavily affected if the Inland Empire “goes down”. Many businesses won’t survive. Our innovations in technology continue to facilitate more work from home. Businesses and education may find the overhead of facility space no longer effective. Analysts have already forecast a serious increase in automation for the IE by 2035 but is now predicted to accelerate. The non-profit sector will likely have a difficult road ahead and we must find ways to support this important sector.
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:59 a.m.