Carmel City Councilor Adam Aasen teamed up with Thaddeus Rex, of ITeam, a think tank for CEOs, to host a virtual town hall on May 7. More than a dozen Carmel-based CEOs and business owners participated in the Zoom call to have an honest dialogue about the challenges they face due to the pandemic.
Aasen
“It’s really important for the business community to stick together and communicate with one another,” Aasen said. “Hopefully this exchange of ideas and honest feedback will help each business when it comes to planning for the future. Personally, I gained a greater understanding of the impact on our local economy.”
Arron Stanton, owner of Synergize, and Dick Aderman, of ITeam, also worked to get the event organized.
Some of the participants included:
- Tony Unfried, Platform 24, Archon Tech Strategies
- Justin Moffett, Old Town Design Group
- Michael Bougerie, Rosie’s Place
- Stan Chen, Telamon
- Jimmy Dulin, RE/MAX Ability Plus
- Tony Lazzara, Anthony’s Chophouse
- Lauren Taylor, Holder Mattress
- Micki Stirsman, Salon 01
- Gary Sexton, SportClips
- Steve Greenberg, Current Publications
- Arron Stanton, Synergize
- Leah York, Talbott Talent
- Bill Culpepper, SePro Corporation
- Laura Campbell, president of the Carmel City Council
- Thaddeus Rex, The ITeam
Topics included how each business plans to adapt after the pandemic, plans for the future, suggestions for government guidance and making sure employees are healthy and safe.
Many said that communication will be a key factor, both from the government to businesses and from businesses to employees and customers.
“We’re going overboard when it comes to communicating with our employees about our concern for their health,” Moffett said. “With consumers, we are sending out information to make sure they know that they know we care about their health and the health of our employees. We are proceeding with caution but letting people know we are open for business.”
Some businesses were able to work from home easily but will still develop plans to get back into the office in the near future.
“It was easy for us to be a remote team,” Unfried said. “As far as getting back to the office, we’re not in a hurry in terms of a need perspective but when it comes to a human interaction perspective, we’re planning on bringing people back soon. We are ready to get out and see people soon.”
Taylor, who owns a retail mattress company, said she has the double responsibility of ensuring safety at both her factory and her showrooms. She said she’s put countless hours into planning her safe reopening on May 4.
“We have put together a really extensive plan with guidance from the state,” Taylor said.
Barbershops and salons are eager to give their clients haircuts soon. Stirsman said Salon 01 has a long list of new procedures and feels her customers will be very safe.
“We’ve expanded each appointment by 15 minutes so we have extra time to sanitize,” Stirsman. “We have emailed every guest. We will do temperature checks. We will follow every guideline.”
Chen, CEO of Telamon, said the key for many is to realize things won’t go back to normal overnight.
“I think the biggest thing is we’re trying to emphasize this is a medium to long term thing,” Chen said. “We won’t be doing this forever but at least six to 18 months. We need to adjust because it’ll be a part of life and we need to get comfortable and develop new habits.”