OLYMPIA, Wash. — For the next 105 days, businesses in Olympia will see hundreds more people in the town of around 55,000. Lawmakers have returned to the Capitol after working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Thurston Economic Development Council said at least $4.73 million in total economic output was lost during the pandemic. That number comes from a February 2021 analysis, according to Gene Angel, Director of Research and Evaluation for Thurston EDC.
Angel said the $4.73 million shortfall is likely on the low side. Their analysis, stemming from the loss of 2,707 overnight hotel stays, made up only 15% of total capacity in the county. Also, their analysis did not take into account the additional losses to the local economy due to the legislative body and their staffers being remote nor did it reflect the loss of spending in the downtown core attributable to state workers’ continued remote work.
Susan Nelson, long-time General Manager of Wagner’s Bakery & Café, said she’s noticed a difference with the shift to working remotely.
“They were remote for however long it was. 2.5, 3 years and it was very slow,” Nelson said. “You could tell as they gradually came back, we got gradually busier.”
Nelson welcomes the return to in-person work at the Capitol Campus
“We just want them all to come back because we want the business obviously,” she said.
However, she understands not all businesses will see a significant bump in customers. Wagner’s benefits from being close to the Capitol and having a reputation that started back in 1938.
“We get morning people. Donuts, pastries or whatever, they’re taking back up there for meetings. We cater quite often up there too,” Nelson said.
Colin Bartlett, a co-owner of Burial Grounds, has yet to experience business not marked by the pandemic. He and his colleagues spent the first three months of 2020 getting their coffee shop ready.
“We opened March 1st, so we had about a week-and-a-half of glorious indoor dining before the pandemic hit,” Bartlett said.
Burial Grounds became actively involved in helping their community despite the shutdown restrictions and slower business.
“What we do here is very community centric. That’s something we found ourselves in as a coffee shop and we ended up responding to it,” Bartlett said.
When asked, Bartlett had mixed feelings on if lawmakers being back in person would mean more business for his coffee shop.
“I feel like yes and no. I think the places that cater to lobbyists will do well. I think that the workers largely have already been back doing the work, so we’ve already seen those returns,” he said.