As the province of Ontario begins to reopen the economy, the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce has been taking stock of the pandemic's impact locally.
Mary Jean O'Donnell, chair of the board of directors, said a recent survey showed three per cent of their members have closed permanently.
"Out of 292 respondents, it's actually nine businesses, and 34 per cent have temporarily closed as a result of the restrictions that are in place, and then sort of a spectrum across the board there."
A long-standing Sarnia restaurant, the former Stokes by the Bay recently announced via social media that it will not be reopening.
However, O'Donnell added that it's not all bad news.
"A couple of people actually responded and said I'm in e-commerce and things are going like gangbusters. So depending on where you stood on the scale, and certainly, we're seeing a lot of folks embrace the online shopping and that's fantastic," she said.
O'Donnell noted that senior government assistance for small businesses is welcome, and the economic task force is putting together a Shop Sarnia map using the Lambton County GIS system.
"So we're encouraging businesses to log on and post their business, and you can show whether you're doing curbside pickup, whether you're fully opened, like the hardware stores can be, and what all the various options are, whether you're just doing online, etc."
O'Donnell said there's a lot of work ahead in the months to come as the economy reopens.
"I think that we are a resilient community and that we will get through this, and that we need to focus on the positive and focus on collaboration, which we've seen so much of. Clearly there are a number of steps that need to be taken to ensure the safe opening of businesses."
She said KPMG created a document that outlines a framework for reopening that is quite detailed.
-With files from Colin Gowdy
