News

After 2020 disruption, businesses finding new ways to work in 2021

By SUSAN PARRISH for The Columbian

Published: January 31, 2021, 5:00am

Main Street and our economy were ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying

shutdown in 2020. In this Economic Forecast special section, business experts share what they learned while navigating through the disruption that was 2020. Below are highlights.

JENNIFER BAKER, President, Columbia River Economic Development Council:

“Here’s a question we’re all grappling with in 2021: How do we address myriad disruptions catalyzed or exacerbated by COVID-19?

“Head-on, of course—and with a balance of near-term and long-range thinking on economic vitality. The presence of pandemic crosswinds invites even more alignment between community members, businesses, business-focused nonprofit organizations and public officials. The crucial task at hand: To recognize our shared vision for Clark County to be one of the most heathy, inclusive, amenity-rich communities in the countr y.”

CHRIS GREEN, Assistant Director, Office of Economic Development and Competitiveness, Washington State Department of Commerce:

“Washington’s Department of Commerce is taking a two-pronged approach during the pandemic. First, we are focusing on relief for those businesses and communities most impacted by the pandemic. Second, Commerce is staying focused on the future economy, industrial transition and creating more long
term, living wage jobs in high tech and advanced manufacturing.”

TIM SCHAUER, MacKay Sposito, Board Chair & Director of Land Development:

“Realistically, 2020 likely will be a force of disruptive change in our windshield for many miles (and years) ahead. If we want to thrive in the post-pandemic economy, we must adapt to a new normal that will be difficult to predict or plan for. There is no past road map. As we navigated the pandemic challenges, here’s what I think we have learned: We are resilient and adaptable. The ways that people, government and our businesses have pivoted are nothing short of extraordinary.”

JULIANNA MARLER, CEO, Port of Vancouver USA:

“Leadership at the Port of Vancouver has for many years focused on diversity
of cargo as a strategy to provide stability during fluctuating market conditions. This positioned us to be ready for the realities of 2020. We specialize in bulk and break- bulk cargoes—think grains, soybeans, steel slabs and wind blades—items that don’t easily fit into cargo containers. Our expertise in moving these commodities allowed us to prosper when other ports str uggled.”

JON HERSEN, President, Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center:

“A positive development from COVID is increased coordination and collaboration in Clark County’s healthcare and public health community …This collaboration will serve all of us in Clark County — today and tomorrow.”

HENRY SCHUCK, ZoomInfo Founder and CEO:

“Despite what we’ve accomplished so far, I wake up every day focused on things we don’t do well enough, and on places in the business that are not best-in-class. These are different things today than they were six months ago or six months before that. If they remain beyond that, then I’ll know we’re not evolving, and we won’t find disruption.”

SHERRI MCMILLAN, Founder and CEO, NW Personal Training and WHY Racing:

“2020 was an excruciating year for small businesses. COVID is the biggest threat I have experienced in my 21 years as a business owner… In order to stay relevant to our clients through months of closures, we had to reinvent ourselves by offering virtual training and events.”

DR. KARIN EDWARDS, President, Clark College:

“Launching on a new path, we moved all student services and more than 2,000 classes online so that our students could remain engaged and on track in their educational pursuits… I am inspired by the stories of our students’ remarkable strength and tenacity. Despite so many difficulties, our students are completing their studies at kitchen tables, often while helping their children with their own online classes. These resilient students are our community’s future. If you know them as I do, you will share my boundless hope for our future.”

PAULINE FONG, Program Director, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust:

“Here are the harsh realities people in our communities are facing: Thousands of children and families need help; women and people of color are impacted disproportionately, and we are seeing a surge of mental health issues across many demographics.

“In times such as these, a Chinese proverb rings true: ‘When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.’ Every day we see examples of our nonprofit community rallying to build windmills.”

SCOTT BAILEY, Regional Economist, Washington Employment Security Department:

“I believe the local labor market will see only a modest improvement at best (in 2021)…Some perspective: an employment growth rate of 3 percent would be a pretty good year… We’d have to see an 8 percent growth rate to get us back to pre-COVID employment levels—a rate which has never been attained in Clark County.”

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