Life is getting back to normal for one more aspect of business – tourism planning. Christina Rehklau of Visit Corvallis has found that planning is turning back to the pre-pandemic norms.
“We’re still seeing some of that pent up demand,” Rehklau said. “What’s really impacting tourism is the staff shortages. What [we] are seeing are hotels continuing to raise their rates from the standpoint of controlling demand, because that’s something that’s a common practice with hotels.”
Rehklau said that Corvallis can expect things to be in higher demand as long as the Oregon State University football team continues to win – leaving the just over 900 rooms in Corvallis and the just over 600 rooms in Albany full.
“Another thing we saw over the summer,” she added, “[was] contraction compared to last year as far as occupancy [because] we saw a lot of people changing [in terms of] where they went last year is not where they went this year. When I look at our industry – and especially when I look at our marketplace here – I don’t feel like reality will set in again until sometime in 2023.”
Inflation: In June inflation was at 9.1%, and now it’s come down to 8.2%. Add to this, the Fed is looking at continuing to raise interest rates. What does this mean for local companies?
“You see it hitting families still,” said Helen Higgins of the Boys & Girls Club. “Everything from gas is still $5.15 a gallon in Corvallis – it jumped up 70 cents in a week – and when you’ve got a good chunk of our workforce driving in and out to come to their jobs, that’s really hard on pocketbooks. Food prices are up, so it’s really challenging for families. So in their world it doesn’t really matter what the interest rates are doing, because they’re not out trying to buy houses and cars, they’re just trying to put food on their tables and gas in their cars.”
Perhaps more troubling to our panel was that, according to Trading Economics, U.S. corporate profits rose 6.2% in the second quarter of 2022, bringing them to $2.53 trillion. That number, however, is lower than the estimated 9.1% surge they had planned for.
Higgins added that we often talk about people on a “fixed income” as being harder hit than others, however everyone is technically on a fixed income. That even should a person get a raise, the amount they are bringing home each month is a fixed amount.
And what can local businesses do to help? It’s likely that more people will be looking for better sales come the holidays – a fact Amazon clicked into with their early holiday sales that started pre-Halloween this year.
Social Security Increase: Incidentally, those traditionally labeled as “fixed income” got a significant increase with the Social Security Administration setting the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2022 at 8.7% – the largest increase since 1981 when the COLA was set at 11.2%.
In 2021, the COLA was set at 1.3%, and in 2020 it was set at 1.6%. So retired people will see several noticeably more dollars in their banks come January.
DCA Audit Continues: The City and the accounting firm in charge of tidying up the books for the now-defunct Downtown Corvallis Association (DCA) are still whittling away at the task. The newest lag comes from the need to file final taxes for the organization.
The DCA served Corvallis for 37 years, but when in February Executive Director Jennifer Moreland resigned to move out of state, it was decided to have the group as a whole close its doors. That left the funding, which DCA relied on, up for grabs to another group willing to cheerlead for downtown businesses. However, the audit must be completed before any other group can take over the funding that DCA once benefited from, leaving many in town holding their breath
According to Simon Date of the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce, “I don’t think there’s anything dodgy going on. These things take time.”
Regardless of when the audit comes in, the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce will be working with local businesses to create publicity for this year’s Small Business Saturday on Nov. 26.
City Program Was/Is a Hit: In February of last year, the City of Corvallis created a new program which allowed businesses “to use public parking spaces for the purpose of providing outdoor seating, queuing, shopping, or service areas.” It was called the Business Use of Right-of-Way Permit Program, and it was very popular. Perhaps too popular, because as it is set to end on Oct. 31, many businesses asked the City Council to extend the permits to anywhere from early 2023 to forever.
“The whole point,” according to Rehklau, “is to bring it back in May of this next year and do it during when it’s absolutely beautiful out and people want to sit outside
But not everyone wants to wait for the weather. The Chamber of Commerce has been approached by many businesses to ask if they could stand up for them and urge the city to extend things. Taco Vino and Squirrel’s Tavern are among the restaurants who would like to see it be made a year-round feature.
Other businesses aren’t as big of fans.
“I will say that there is a considerable amount of support for it coming down among businesses,” said Date. “You’re just not going to hear from them.”
They would prefer to have the parking spaces made available again – especially as holiday shopping picks up. Additionally, concerns about litter being left in the streets and sidewalks is an issue for many. Lastly, in January the City plans to conduct a parking study, which would be affected by parking spaces being unavailable to cars.
“I think there’s also the concern,” Rehklau added, “[of] will Covid cases spike again over the winter, and until we have a winter when that doesn’t happen, you’re going to have this concern about people wanting to have that particular option available to them.”
On Oct. 17, the City Council heard from several people about wanting to make the program permanent, and about the money they have already spent on outdoor setups – much of which they felt would land in Coffin Butte if they were made to deconstruct outside areas. Some came to say they still feared the pandemic and preferred to sit outdoors.
After some haggling amongst the Councilors, it was decided that the program would continue until Jan. 6, 2023 to allow those businesses that wanted to keep their setup in place through New Years. They tagged onto it that a staff report about the program would be made to determine the benefits, drawbacks, and overall costs.
For those businesses that have already removed their outdoor spaces – and there are many, the question arises of whether or not they will re-erect them.
Chamber Events: Coming this week from the Chamber of Commerce…
Tonight, Oct. 24, come to the Corvallis Central Park Gazebo at 6 p.m. for the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARDV) vigil for survivors. Find out more about this important event here.
Tuesday, Oct. 25, from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. will see Greeters being hosted by the Kuto App and held at the Corvallis Museum, located at 411 SW 2nd St. Come over for some good conversation and a cup of coffee.
If you’re looking for a crafty time, come over to the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, located at 645 NW Monroe Ave., for the Fall and Halloween crafts night. This event will run from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. with all supplies provided by The Arts Center and C3.
On Saturday, Oct. 29, from 2 – 5 p.m., bring the kiddos downtown for a little early trick-or-treating. Find a list of participating businesses here.
Also on Oct. 29, head over to Linn-Benton Community College, located at 6500 Pacific Blvd. SW, Albany, for the NAACP Freedom Fund 2022 Celebration. This annual event celebrates our local NAACP branch and all they have accomplished over the year. This fundraiser event includes dinner, entertainment, and a keynote speech from Oregon State Senator Akasha Lawrence Spence. Get your tickets here.
By Sally K Lehman
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