The head of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce describes the current business climate as “extreme,” with upheaval on a scale no one could have predicted.
Seventy-nine per cent of Richmond businesses surveyed by the chamber of commerce have seen a decline in sales and 40 per cent have had either layoffs, reduction in hours or have closed temporarily because of the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent physical distancing measures ordered by the province.
For Richmond Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Matt Pitcairn, however, the most discouraging statistic in the survey – conducted about a week ago – is the 54 per cent of Richmond businesses who forecast a slow economic rebound because of insufficient global economic activity or the inability for their customers to make purchases in the future.
“For the general public, the social distancing measures are pretty extreme for society as we know it,” Pitcairn said. “And the situation local businesses are facing are pretty extreme as well.”
One of the largest business sectors in Richmond is the movement goods and people, and that has been “incredibly hard hit,” Pitcairn said. YVR traffic was down about 50 per cent last week and is expected to slow down even further with massive travel restrictions in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.
While many businesses have a rainy-day fund to tide them over a rough patch, this is a situation like no other, Pitcairn said.
“I don’t think there are many textbooks that address the magnitude of this situation,” Pitcairn said.
For any sized business, it would be hard to prepare for a crisis of this scale, he added, especially because no one knows how long it will last.
“I don’t think anyone fathomed an economic slowdown of this scale and this pace,” he said.
The survey was conducted between March 26 and April 1 by the BC Chambers of Commerce.
Pitcairn, however, said he’s encouraged by the response from higher levels of government to the crisis.
“We’ve seen the province and feds move at an unprecedented speed for government and I commend them for doing that,” he said.
But the Richmond Chamber of Commerce has sent a letter last week to the Minister of Finance, Carole James, asking for more relief.
Their first ask is for rental assistance for business properties, which the chamber would like to see go directly to the landlord. The second one is for the ability for municipalities to defer property taxes, due on June 30 – the province mandates the date they have to be paid by.
Forty per cent of property taxes received by the City of Richmond come from business properties.
Furthermore, the chamber is also asking for the province to waive the employee health tax for six months, not just to defer it.
Despite the rapid and wide-scale slowdown in economic activity, a few sectors are busy, Pitcairn said, given that people are isolated in their homes. Do-it-yourself home improvement supply companies, electronics and home office suppliers and health supplement businesses have seen a jump in business activity during the crisis.
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