COVID-19 closures hammer Blaine County tourism: Community works to aid workers

KETCHUM — Blaine County’s economy has come to a screeching halt. Many businesses in the tourism-reliant community have gone weeks with little to no revenue, and service industry workers — many of whom live paycheck-to-paycheck — don’t know where to turn.

“Everybody’s out of work,” Sawtooth Club restaurant owner Tom Nickel said. “All the restaurants are doing their best to provide some income for as many key people as they can, but I don’t think any of us are in a position cash-wise to just go ahead and pay everybody straight through this. I know I’m sure not.”

In response to the economic freefall, some are trying to give service workers a boost.

Party Animal Vodka co-owners Katherine Cullen and Josh Hanson have started a GoFundMe campaign to help Wood River Valley service industry workers — mainly those who work in restaurants and hotels, but also housekeepers, hairstylists, massage therapists and others. GoFundMe is a website that allows individuals to donate money to causes online.

“So far it’s been pretty amazing,” Hanson said of the response to the GoFundMe page, which has raised $14,700 as of Tuesday afternoon. “The amount of people sharing … It’s been pretty incredible.”

Vulnerable valley

Idaho has been relatively fortunate so far as the COVID-19 epidemic hammers the American economy and puts millions out of work. But the coronavirus has shut down the Wood River Valley — literally.

Nearly half of the state’s coronavirus cases have been in Blaine County, and Gov. Brad Little issued a shelter-in-place order last week, asking all residents to stay home except for essential activities. The Sun Valley and Ketchum mayors have reached out to the state for additional help as hospital and emergency services near capacity.

Without any customers coming through the doors, many businesses don’t have enough cash to pay employees.

“The businesses are kind of hanging on by a fingernail now, by a thread,” Nickel said. “(For) our staff it’s just as bad, if not worse.”

Nickel noted that even though the Wood River Valley’s residents are often perceived as being overwhelmingly wealthy and Californian, that’s not the reality for the region’s roughly 2,000 service workers. Many work two or three jobs, often seasonal ones, and rents are high. He said a lot of service workers are normal people who moved to the area because they love the mountains.

“A whole lot of folks that count on that paycheck every couple of weeks and count on the tips that our guests leave, are all completely without any source of income whatsoever right now,” Nickel said. “And it’s a whole lot of people — from cooks and bartenders to dishwashers and our janitorial staff, and our servers, bussers …”

Hanson noted that COVID-19 is having an even greater impact on service industry workers because they rely so heavily on tips. Unemployment checks don’t account for tips.

“It’s really important that we support the service staff,” Nickel said. “Some of them are going to have a tough time getting through this. They might have to leave town if they can’t come up with the rent money.”

Helping out workers

Party Animal Vodka is an Idaho-based business that makes vodka from Idaho russet potatoes. The company has always been cause-driven, sending a portion of its earnings to animal and wildlife foundations.

The business is still young, and Hanson said he’s spent much of his time the past few years traveling to bars and restaurants to sell his vodka. He’s developed close relationships with service workers over the past few years and said those friendships are why he created a GoFundMe campaign to try and help.

Over the past three days, the Wood River COVID-19 Service Industry Relief Fund GoFundMe page has raised $14,700 from 123 donors. The response has been so overwhelming that Hanson raised his goal for the fund to $25,000.

Hanson said Tuesday he’s already heard from a half dozen restaurants and about 40 service workers who need help from the fund — the number’s probably higher now. The fund will close midnight Thursday, and at the end of the week, Hanson will distribute the funds evenly to service workers, through their managers.

‘It’s a question of time’

The fate of Blaine County service workers and businesses will depend on how long the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on tourism.

Nickel said he expects to see a strong summer season when the COVID-19 closures end. But even if this ends quickly, he said it’s probably going to take businesses two years to recover.

Michel’s Christiania owner Michel Rudigoz said if tourism is still down dramatically come July, some restaurants will start to go under. He also noted that, while many restaurants are trying to adapt by ramping up their take out dining options, take out doesn’t work very well for his French restaurant.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Rudigoz said. “It’s a question of time.”

Nickel said that people can help support service workers by buying gift certificates — he noted that some restaurant owners are going to be using a portion of gift certificate funds to pay employees directly and immediately.

Hanson and Cullen are going to keep finding ways to raise money for service workers, and they intend to expand their efforts. They’re working to set up a non-profit that will help them raise money for workers in other regions outside the Wood River Valley — mainly in Idaho and Wyoming — and they’re going to make the GoFundMe page a recurring event, perhaps bi-weekly or monthly.

“It’s looking like this is going to be lasting a little longer than we initially thought,” Hanson said. “The service industry is really just the first casualty — the first of many to come.”