This month, we mark almost exactly two years since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the world around us. During those 24 months, communities across Michigan have struggled to ensure consistent levels of service, support and economic activity.
But no community has suffered in the same way as Michigan’s capital city — downtown Lansing.
When tens of thousands of state government employees began operating remotely, the downtown Lansing restaurants, shops and businesses that regularly serve these workers lost their primary source of revenue. Many of them were forced to close their doors within just months of the pandemic’s onset.
And, unlike other communities, many of our shoppers and diners never came back. Two years later, the situation has barely improved in downtown Lansing. Most state workers still have not returned, and many of those that have are only downtown a couple days each week. Many of our longtime enterprises have vanished. Others are limping along, waiting hopefully for the day when ‘business-as-usual’ returns once more.
If there’s ever been a good use for federal COVID-19 relief dollars, this is it. Our downtown businesses need help — and fast.
It’s important to note some of these businesses have been here for a century or more. These are not flash-in-the-pan entrepreneurs — they are the lifeblood of our community and beloved landmarks we all have come to treasure.
Take Weston’s Kewpee Burger for example, a family-owned business that’s set to celebrate its first 100 years of business in 2023. They are just one example of many of our downtown businesses struggling to keep afloat in a town that’s quieter than usual during lunchtime. https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinion/contributors/viewpoints/2022/03/09/downtown-lansing-need-post-covid-19-economic-relief-now/6924195001/
