GREENVILLE, S.C. – Pete Matsko is making money this year.
This is how Matsko described the effect of COVID-19 on his livelihood.
The owner and operator of the Pub and Grill alleys in the city centre of Clemson closed the post in March, blocked COVID-19 in June and, however, reopened on August 6, just as Clemson University academics began returning to the city before the fall semester.
For Masko, and the rest of the university city, the pandemic is a reminder of how intrinsically connected local businesses are to the good fortune of the university; Students, sports enthusiasts and primaries account for more than 80% of the annual revenue of downtown businesses, according to local traders.
“And you wouldn’t have a dozen bars within two hundred yards of another,” Matsko said from the terrace of his bar, which is right next to College Avenue, in the center of Clemson’s entertainment district.
And with a shorter football season on COVID-19, or rumors that there’s no football at all, and a non-traditional semester going forward, locals are still unsure of the lasting effect of the pandemic.
While Matsko estimates that his 28-year-old company has lost about $1 million in sales since it closed, the city’s budget documents estimate thousands of dollars in lost tax gains.
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The General Fund, which budgets for day-to-day capital operations and projects, is expected to be deleminated with a 4% reduction in revenue compared to last year, according to the budget proposal documents.
The General Fund is financed through asset taxes, lease and licensing fees, local sales taxes and other revenue resources.
The overall negative effect of COVID-19 on the city is more than $800,000, adding $500,000 in tourism-like lost taxes, according to Andy Blondeau, the city manager.
As a result, the city is postponing new capital projects, which in the afterlife were land acquisitions for the park’s expansion or investments for new walking trails, for the rest of the fiscal year, cut $100,000 from the budget of the Clemson Area African American Museum. and suspended the non-essential to come with education and conferences out of town.
The city has also stopped pursuing special projects that are financed through the hospitality and accommodation tax fund, which helps finance projects related to tourism, quality of life and recreation in Clemson.
“These budgets are very important for the city’s operations and I think it’s worth taking a year off on special projects to keep them in the coming years,” Blondeau wrote in the budget notes to the city council.
A ray of hope for homeowners of local commercial housing the recently announced 2020 football season. Still, Clemson will host five regular-season games this year instead of seven.
Matsko is “full of hope and excited” for football, but holds his breath.
“With the way that P3 (federal payroll coverage program) legislation and reopening rules replace each weekArray … I’ll do it when I see it,” he said.
On Sunday night, the Mid-American Conference canceled its fall football season, sparking rumors that other primary sports gatherings could follow, according to a USA TODAY column.
Even if enthusiasts faint from games, Matsko said he would only earn part of what he would do in general years, with state mandates restricting restaurants and bars to 50% of their capacity. “And when you make all your cash the football season … it’s actually a great drag for your year,” he said.
In a typical season, a home football game can generate an economic effect of between $1 million and $3 million and attract up to 100,000 people, according to Susan Cohen, president of the Clemson Region Chamber of Commerce.
But, like everything else this year, the numbers can just go down.
“Some other people still make e-books on weekends to go to safety … However, I think more cancellations can be expected when it all happens,” Cohen said.
Across the industry, hotels are starting to see a return to the general now that tourists are traveling again, according to Andrew Cajka, owner of Greenville-based Southern Hospitality Group. Cajka’s company operates 3 university-affiliated hotels in the area, adding the Martin Inn to the Clemson campus.
When he spoke to The Greenville News, Clemson’s football show had been public for a day.
“It is inopportune to speculate on the general call and the good fortune of the calendar, which has just been published, but in the Martin InnArray … we’re sure we’ll have an application this fall,” Cajka said.
He said he expects football enthusiasts to make e-books in the rooms later than in general this year, so the hostel will touch “loyal guests” who are interested in e-books to learn about their plans for the season.
“It’s so otherArray … it’s uncharted territory, so I think we’re all from an industry perspective, incorporating a lot more flexibility into the way we book.”
Clemson Athletics has announced how many enthusiasts will be able to enter stadiums, and a vote revealed that most enthusiasts would be willing to distance themselves socially to watch the games in person.
Of course, fewer corpses in stadiums minus dollars spent in the city.
“The missing part of the football season is what they’ll do with the baseArray fan … and I think I still get a little bit of encouragement until those last pieces are understood,” Cohen said.
Courtney Morris, manager of Backstreets Bar, has been working there since he was a student at Clemson, around the age of 8. You’ve noticed slow summers. He learned of times when the football team was not the national force he had become and the crowd of players was not that numerous.
But she’s never noticed coVID-19.
“I never thought it would be like this. I mean, there’s nobody in town. We’re just waiting for the academics to come back. If they come back,” Morris said.
While academics on campus move through mid-September, about 15,000 Clemson fellows live off campus, and moving dates are still in August.
Epoch Clemson, an 800-bed student housing complex in Seneca, has noticed an increase in the call for ensembles this year, that is, when Clemson University said students would move to campus homes until mid-September.
“There was a small pause in May/June as academics waited to find out if there would be face-to-face categories or not. Once they announced that there would be face-to-face courses, the lease took over,” said Kevin Sealey, the developer. in an email to The Greenville News.
“There is cautious optimism, because we will begin to see the academics return. Array. More frame means more work,” Cohen said.
But it’s also riskier, Matsko said.
“When all those young people from all over the country come back, we’ll see some other spikes and some other circulars or two of business closures, but you have to be prepared for that,” he told The News.
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According to President James Clements, Clemson’s campus would have noticed “several thousand cases” if they had brought back all students in mid-August, when school screenings involved an increase in the virus in South Carolina. Instead, Clemson will hold virtual courses until at least 21 September.
“It’s in my mind, ” said Matsko about the virus. “Because my main purpose is to ensure the protection of those employees.”
Whatever the short-term challenges, Cohen is confident that Clemson will support.
“I think we can do it pretty quickly … however, there are corporations that cling to a thread right now,” he said.
Companies such as Butterfly Eco Beauty Bar downtown, which opened 4 weeks before closing in mid-March and has still reopened, according to the exhibition’s owner, Nekita Sullivan.
“August and September will be a critical arrangement … I have to do it and I have to do them now.”
As for Matsko, whose bar business has grown in line with the university’s national visibility and prestige, the pandemic poses a challenge, but it probably won’t close its doors.
“We were there for a record year, we were on our way to renovation … now I’m going to suffer a loss and I’ll probably take two years to retire.”
Zoe covers Clemson for The Greenville News and Independent Mail. Get in touch with her on [email protected] or Twitter zoenicholson_