Being proactive is an important goal for John Day as the city council discussed the sobering statistics and data regarding economic recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The city of John Day looked at how COVID-19 affected the economy and unemployment in the city and county.

City Manager Nick Green shared data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency regarding business closures during a disaster, which was dismal, according to John Day Mayor Ron Lundbom.

“The number that stood out to me were 40% of businesses do not reopen after a disaster, 25% fail within one year and over 90% fail within two years. That was a sobering statistic,” Lundbom said. “Let’s see if we cannot let that happen.”

Green said these statistics are for a typical disaster but added that the current situation may not be typical based on when restrictions are lifted and businesses can reopen.

Unemployment insurance claims in Grant County increased approximately 50% each week since March 14, according to data Green received from Chris Rich, the state regional economist. Thirty-two percent of the claims processed were from accommodation and food services.

The amount of claims gradually increased in March with 14 claims made for the week ending on March 14, 40 claims for the week ending on March 21 and 52 claims for the week ending on March 28.

“If we come back to thinking about the severity of the shock, this one, as an effect on employment, has been far worse than the Great Depression in the depth of the shock, and the question becomes how quickly do you recover?” Green said.

Statewide during the week of April 5 to April 11, the Oregon Employment Department received 53,800 initial claims for unemployment benefits. That’s in addition to a revised total of 243,000 initial claims filed during the prior three weeks.

The department said in their press release that, with the first CARES Act payments on April 10, Oregon is among the early states getting an extra $600 per week to those out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with the current pandemic, John Day has faced multiple disasters the city is still recovering from.

“This recovery is coming on the heels of the 2019 spring flooding, and we’re still recovering from that… which has come on the heels of the 2015 wildfires… and that’s coming on the heels of 2011 flooding and on and on and on,” Green said. “We need to be prepared for these waves, and we need to pay attention to the data that are meaningful.”

The city has been working with EcoNorthwest and the Economic Development Administration to get a framework on economic recovery, resiliency and how to emerge stronger for future disasters.

In recovering from the disaster, Green said it was important for public officials to not give into fear and continue to work forward.

“Within the paper by EcoNorthwest, they talked about short-term and long-term strategies, and if you go through that, we are already doing a lot of these things,” Green said. “We’ve had Oregon RAIN stood up to help support local small businesses. We’re doing some things for small business assistance, we’ve done a lot of economic development planning, we’re doing things to create adapted workforce housing and we’re heavily invested in infrastructure. I think we’re positioned to take advantage of low interest rates and federal stimulus when it’s made available to cities.”