Resiliency – it’s a word that has become more prevalent in today’s conversations. I first heard it back in my transportation days related to “freight resiliency” – how to make sure goods are delivered if there was a disruption in the transportation systems. Resiliency is used when talking about ecosystem and environment in making sure our structures and places are around for the future generations. And recently, “economic resiliency” gets a lot of play in business circles.
There are official definitions of resiliency depending on your discipline, but the basic meaning is “coming back” from an emergency, a natural disaster, a disruption, or a pandemic.
During the COVID response in 2020, we were concerned about the impact on the economy and whether Caroline businesses would be able to “come back.” In the nearly two years since then, it seems that the business community is resilient and has recovered from the hardships that the pandemic response has on the economy. But there are new issues threatening the economy – COVID surge, workforce, and macro-economic concerns.
Will Caroline businesses be able to continue to be resilient and get through the tough times in first quarter of 2022? The COVID surge is anticipated to slow, which should help alleviate some of the workforce issues, but there will still be an over demand of jobs versus an under supply of workers. Supply chain and inflation will still have an impact on business, but businesses will work through those issues to stay open and make a profit. Yes, I think economic resiliency will help protect the county’s economy in the near term. What happens after that, and what other pressures are going to impact businesses remains to be seen.
For updates on any future business support, please visit carolinebusiness.com, sign up for our newsletter, and follow Caroline County Economic Development on Facebook.
Caroline County Economic Development is an office within Caroline County government. Its mission is to help businesses thrive in the community. Debbie can be reached at 410-479-4188 or info@carolinebusiness.com