Don Anderson SLBDC General Mgr (Photo via BDC website)Don Anderson SLBDC General Mgr (Photo via BDC website)
Sarnia

Tweaks needed for reopening roadmap, says SL business development GM

The head of the Sarnia-Lambton Business Development Corporation (SLBDC) believes Ontario's reopening roadmap needs some tweaks.

SLBDC General Manager Don Anderson said the safe opening policy is a step, but he believes it could be improved to help struggling businesses.

"The ones that we're hearing and seeing that are really feeling the pain right now, locally especially, are the personal services -- the hair salons, the nail salons, those types of related services, and some of us are really starting to look like we need those services administered."

Anderson said we need to look at trying to get some businesses open a little bit sooner in the process than what's being proposed, especially those in the personal services sector.

"A comparison I'll make; let's say you're going to get your haircut and you've gone to the dentist -- I think similar protocols can be put in place and hopefully we can get folks moving forward," said Anderson. "There's some things maybe that we could've been a little more aggressive on, like for the restaurant folks, maybe we could have been a little more aggressive on getting patios open and that type of thing, just to give an alternative."

Anderson said there is a level of frustration out there, and that there needs to be bit more certainty of what the process is going to be.

"Just to kind of get some clarity so that folks understand where they fit in that, because that's the question we get quite often, 'am I a part of this group, or am I a part of that group?'"

Anderson said at the moment, Sarnia-Lambton businesses are right across the spectrum when it comes to how they're doing.

"Some are really struggling, some are doing quite well, there's many are in between. Certainly the accommodation industry right now is probably struggling as much as anybody, the hotels, and again, coming back to personal services, they're hurting as well. The restaurant trade, some are doing quite well, they're managing with the curbside, others are struggling a little bit through it."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a gradual three-phase plan to reopen the province based on hitting vaccination targets last month.  On Monday, the province announced that Ontario will enter stage one of the plan on Friday.

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