Survey shows downtown businesses improving | Wausonian this week
Survey shows downtown businesses improving | Wausonian this week
The Wausonian, April 18, 2021
Downtown businesses fared much better over the course of the pandemic than originally expected, a recent survey from the Wausau River District showed.
More than 70% of business owners in the downtown district said they were no longer concerned about the effects of the pandemic permanently closing their business, according to the survey. That’s double the total from last year’s survey.
And, most businesses either didn’t lay anyone off, or laid off 1-2 employees. Only a handful of businesses laid more off. The district is gearing up for events this year to help downtown businesses, such as the Dining in the Streets event that worked well last year. Read the report here.
What else in Wausau?
A city program to incentivize its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine has fallen flat. After being sent back to committee by the City Council, the HR Committee for the city voted down the proposal, since there were numerous complications with police and fire workers, which would have involved union negotiations.
City leaders are now hoping to settle with now-defunct bike share program Zagster. The city contracted with Zagster to run its bike-share program for Riverlife, but the company hit financial troubles and eventually went bankrupt. Originally Zagster tried to settle for $900, and the city said yeah no. Now the trust owning Zagster’s assets offered $3,500, and the city is going to try for $4,500. That’s of the $18,000 the city originally paid via foundation funding.
Around the metro
CORRECTION: In a story last week we flubbed the election results of the Weston election. Barb Ermeling, Nate Fiene and Hooshang Zeyghami were elected to the village board. The Wausonian feels very bad about the error and always looks to correct the record promptly and prominently. (Er, a previous version of this post said “Rothschild” instead of “Weston.” Good grief.)
Entertainment
Sconni’s Alehouse and Eatery in Schofield will host a grand opening for its patio tonight (Thursday). Beer starts at 5 pm, and music with bluegrass band (that looks like a heavy metal band) Dig Deep starts at 6 pm.
Monk Botanical Gardens will host a Tots in the Garden event 2 pm Tuesday (and ongoing for several Tuesdays). Kids ages 3-5 in the one-hour event will explore a different nature-related topic each week. $2 per child for members, $4 for non-members.
Sports
UWSP—Wausau will once again resume sports next fall. Many of the two-year campuses have taken a break from sports because of the pandemic, but now UWSP—Wausau will offer tennis, men’s basketball and women’s volleyball. Wausau will join Marshfield and five other two-year schools to form a new league, the Wisconsin Competitive Sports League.