Pandemic questions continue

JASPER — There are as many questions coming out of the pandemic as there were going into it.
Will I lose my job? Should I go back to work? When will there be a vaccine? Should I get the vaccine? Which one? How do I develop a new routine? How do I develop another new routine? So many questions and so many decisions people are having to make.
The city of Jasper tried to help make those decisions easier by sponsoring an Information and Job Fair at Bradley Park on Friday, April 23.
The event attracted about 40 businesses, agencies and organizations offering everything from information about their services to on the spot employment.
Attending the fair was Arkansas Senator Breanne Davis. She said the pandemic had restricted a lot of her traveling the past year and she was happy to be in Jasper to once again meet her district's constituents face to face.
Davis said she thinks employers trying to find employees, people who are willing to come back to work, is the biggest challenge currently as businesses begin to fully reopen. During the pandemic, the federal government provided stimulus checks, unemployment subsidies and other forms of financial assistance that are still continuing. Some business operators say the government benefits provide those eligible with a greater income than they received when they worked. Some employers are offering incentives and higher wages to fill positions on their staffs.
Davis acknowledged Newton County has a hospitality driven economy. A year ago, Governor Asa Hutchinson ordered a temporary travel ban in an attempt to keep the coronavirus from spreading. In support, the Buffalo National River and the US Forest Service temporarily closed the river, trails, campgrounds and other recreational facilities. Restaurants scaled back their operations to meet social distancing mandates, required the wearing of masks inside their establishments and tried to make up lost business by offering curbside or home deliveries. Government offices closed and conducted business by telephone while those who could worked from home. In short everything came to a virtual standstill.
Now with the return of springtime weather and prime floating conditions restaurants and other businesses in the area can't keep up with the demand for their services, and still they are finding it hard to return to full operation.

Davis said she hears concerns from people fearing forced vaccination. They are hoping they don't have to get vaccinated or have to be forced to have a vaccination passport. "I am grateful that we have the vaccine. I hope people who want to get it, do. But on the flip side of that I don't want people to be forced to take something they don't want to take, right now."
Another subject she hears about is the fear of gun confiscation.
"I think what we see in the national news, some of the executive orders President Biden has issued and some of the conversations coming out of Washington really scare people because there is so much uncertainty, Davis said. People want to know "how will the state handle what we are hearing from the federal government?"
Asked if she thinks Arkansas will bounce back from the pandemic quickly she laughed optimistically that it will. "While we did shut down, we didn't shut down the same way other states did, both totally and completely." Again she pointed to tourism as a driving economic force as the pandemic draws closer to an end.
There is already a shortage of some products and they are carrying higher prices. Davis sees an opportunity for entrepreneurs who can find and market local produced goods.
Davis used one of her own sponsored pieces of legislation as an example. Senate Bill 248, the Food Freedom Law, opens and expands the state's cottage food laws. The law opens farmers markets to sell all kinds of foods, she explained. Under this law, cottage food producers are allowed to sell food through a third party vendor, sell on line and ship food across the state. She believes the law will give entrepreneurs the spirit and incentive to hustle and make their products available to more people which will make their businesses grow.
Debralee Alexander helped the city to organize the Information and Job Fair. She said a similar fair was held two years ago at the American Legion building. Moving it outdoors was a good idea. "We have good representation from everyone. I'm very happy," she said of the turnout.