There seems to be some good news on the business front in Chatham-Kent.
Chief Administration Officer Don Shropshire is reporting that roughly 95 per cent of the 370 businesses across the municipality, including bars and restaurants, have renewed their licences this year and intend to keep going. Shropshire said that leaves about 20 businesses that haven't renewed their licences yet but that may be because they haven't expired yet. However, it's not mandatory for a business to notify the municipality when it's closing, he added.
Shropshire said the municipality already has and continues to roll out support programs to help businesses survive. Shropshire also said local bars and restaurants can keep their patios through the winter if they follow building and fire codes, as well as other safety guidelines.
"Our restaurants in particular as we enter into the cold weather, I'm trusting those folks will continue to do things like deliveries and takeouts if they can't adapt for the outside patio services," said Shropshire. "As soon as you start constructing an area that has sides to it then you put a roof on it, you are entering an area that is covered by the building code and fire code and you have to make sure that there is a whole bunch of other provisions in place to make sure it's safe for the people involved."
Shropshire said the municipality has recently received some funding to help businesses and is reviewing the details to determine what it addresses.
"How we're going to move forward over the course of the next couple of months I think is going to be a function of what the infection rates are like. We have been very fortunate compared to other places in the province and people have been respectful. So, we have control over that as a community," Shropshire said.
The federal government has expanded the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund to provide more support for southern Ontario businesses by announcing an extra $184 million is now available for those small and medium-sized businesses.