The COVID-19 pandemic has “profoundly touched” every corner of central New York’s economy, according to a business impact survey conducted by CenterState CEO.
240 local businesses answered the survey, according to Centerstate CEO President Rob Simpson. Most have seen precipitous cuts in revenue that have impacted their business. More than half have been forced to lay off employees, and/ or cut operations. One-third are offering discounted sales, and more and more are now concerned about interruptions in the supply chain.
“There’ll be a lot of discussion of supply chain resiliency and supply chain partnering and how businesses in New York state and central New York can be better prepared to be insulated from those supply chain disruptions," Simpson said. "I think it is an opportunity."
Overall, Simpson said most businesses can deal with one or two weeks of disruptions in the revenue cycle.
"Far fewer have the ability to last into week five of this disruption," he said. "And with every week that goes on going forward, we’re going to see more businesses that don’t have the ability, absent government programs or stimulus, to weather the storm."
There are some outliers. Defense contractors are in good shape, and 10% of respondents are looking for employees. Simpson noted small businesses are taking the brunt of the challenges with most respondents worrying about employee well-being and cash flow.
Centerstate will continue to take the pulse of the business community with another round of surveys.
