Progress in ... local business As pandemic subsides, Du Quoin finds economy is in better shape than expected

A year ago Du Quoin, like every other community, was expecting the worst.

Economic experts across the nation warned that sales taxes, a vital source of income in most rural communities, would drop like a rock as people hunkered inside to avoid the coronavirus. Jobs would be lost and families would have less disposable income. Businesses would close as states shut down, and there was no telling which would reopen.

Now, a year later, there's no doubt the pandemic has caused great stress and hardship. Devastated families have lost loved ones and friends. Students have struggled with remote learning, Anxious business owners frequently wondered if all was lost.

But surprisingly, the bottom hasn't dropped out of municipal economies like Du Quoin's.

"Financially, Du Quoin has fared pretty well in the pandemic," said Mayor Guy Alongi on Friday. "Economists thought the virus would kill the economy. But a year in, the only industry hit really hard was hospitality - eateries, hotels, bars, theme parks, state fairs."

Chuck Novak, a finance expert who is Du Quoin's director of special projects, said there are three primary reasons the bottom didn't fall out of the economy. The main one, he said is while total job loss was about 6%, the people disproportionately affected were low-wage earners. To the economy, that meant income loss was only about a half a percentage point, while total job loss was closer to 6%.

"Professional, high wage jobs were not affected in the same way as low-wage jobs," he said.

As well, the $600 a week in additional unemployment benefits went to families who spent the money on necessities, and the stimulus checks grew people's personal income. And while the hospitality industry declined, jobs in groceries and warehousing boomed, he added, offsetting many of the lost jobs.

Before any of this was known, however, the city of Du Quoin itself prepared for the expected hard times by putting measures in place to save money. Every city department took budget cuts. The city council delayed large expenditures, like a new backhoe for the water department. Wages for nonunion city employees were frozen, and the Laborers local also agreed to a freeze.

The city raised property taxes by 15%, to offset 2021's expected $90,000 increase in the city's pension obligation for police and firefighters.

Moreover, city leadership didn't want residents to be surprised. Late last spring, Alongi warned the city could lose half a million dollars by the end of 2020, based on the prevailing thinking.

"We don't sugarcoat anything - when it's good it's good, when it's bad its bad," Alongi said Friday. "You have to be forthright in dealing with the public and with unions."

Some small businesses have closed or are closing, acknowledges Abigail Hammonds, executive director of the Du Quoin Chamber of Commerce. But not all of those are due to the pandemic, she said. Largely, Du Quoin businesses survived - and other businesses have even been born. Hammonds said the chamber has 14 new members, most of them businesses that don't rely on brick and mortar storefronts.

"People have adjusted," Hammonds said. Moreover, she said, "people have a more heightened awareness of the small businesses in this community, and they are excited to support their people."

Alongi said he is cautiously optimistic most local Du Quoin businesses will survive the pandemic.

"Businesses in urban areas have bigger mortgages or rent payments," he explained. "Mom and pop operations don't have that kind of debt, and they are in a better position to last this out."

He said most landlords of commercial buildings in small towns don't really want to kick out a business that is temporarily struggling to keep up with the rent, reasoning that having some income is better than letting a storefront sit empty.

Now, restaurants and bars are revving up again, based on loosening restrictions and the promise of a "bridge" phase between Illinois' Phase 4 and Phase 5 that will loosen up occupancy levels even more.

As well, the Illinois Department of Agriculture is moving ahead with plans for the Springfield and Du Quoin state fairs - tickets have already been selling for grandstand shows at this year's Du Quoin fair.

Alongi is excited about seeing the fair come back, as well as the Street Machine Nationals. About the virus, however, he remains circumspect.

"I don't know whether COVID will ever go away, since I don't see everybody getting the vaccine," he said. As well, the virus is mutating and scientists are still discovering new things about how it behaves. He said it might be toward the end of the year before some semblance of "normal" is achieved.

But he feels better now that Du Quoin can survive that, even if it takes awhile.