The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting business owners in all sectors. In Great Falls, a catering company is seeing just one third of its normal business due to coronavirus concerns.
Since early March, Brian McKinney has been working to thaw his catering business, All Cool Ice & Catering, which has been chipped away by pandemic-related cancellations. “There was about six months there where I did no events at all,” he said.
He told MTN News he's not only lost money but also precious product with each cancellation. “Ice is perishable," he said. “It doesn’t last forever.”
McKinney said the pandemic has put a freeze on his catering events, but that's all about to change: “I just have high hopes that things will get back to normal pretty quick.”
All Cool Ice & Catering is seeing smaller weddings and events begin to book again, including a Star Trek-themed wedding this month.
Mckinney says residents' worries are slowly melting away as Montanans continue through phase two of Governor Bullock’s ‘Reopening The Big Sky’ plan. “I also think that people are ready to start socializing and start having events,” he said.
While the business has been hibernating over the pandemic, McKinney says others are on thin ice. “There are folks all over Great Falls and all over the nation that are experiencing the same challenges,” he said.
He told MTN News that shopping local will make or break more businesses as consumers look to the holiday season. “If you’re planning an event and could use a local provider it's going to help them keep their doors open,” he said.
Click here to visit the All Cool Ice website.