The long road to financial recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has started in Kingston, Ont.
This week, the city unveiled an economic recovery team that is made up of local industry leaders to help businesses navigate through the pandemic.
“This gives us the eye and the ears into what’s going on in the sector so that we know how best to help,” said Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson.
The community-based team has representatives from a variety of hard-hit sectors, such as tourism, restaurants, construction, non-profits and local government. The area’s chief medical officer is on board as well.
The list includes:
- Tim Pater
Restaurant sector - Aba Mortley
Personal services sector - Sean Billing
Accommodation sector - Bhavana Varma
Non-profit/charitable sector - Dan Corcoran
Construction sector - Tricia Baldwin
Cultural sector - Susan St. Clair
Retail sector
Sean Billing, who owns the historic Frontenac Club hotel in downtown Kingston, told Global News that he’s honoured to provide his expertise in the hotel industry, but says his sector, along with many others, is struggling and needs immediate help.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to get them back thriving, to get them back to full employment, to get them back to whatever outcome we can get them into in the short term and then we’ve got to innovate and do things differently,” said Billing.
Recovery team member Aba Mortley, who represents all the spas and salons in the personal service sector, echoed that message.
“If we all realize that we have to minimize things to have social distancing, what does that look like for our revenue?” said Mortley, who owns Cher-Mere spa.
The mayor says Kingston will provide financial support and will be asking the provincial and federal governments for additional assistance, after the team has identified the sector most in need.
“The goal is to sustain businesses and help people get their jobs back,” said Paterson.
The economy recovery team will start its virtual meetings next week to come up with strategies to provide economic support to businesses.
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