This past week Governor Janet Mills outlined a go-forward plan that calls for Maine businesses to open again in a staged fashion over the next few months. We’re excited that some of our local businesses were be able to operate as of May 1. For many businesses included in the second stage such as retailers, restaurants and fitness centers, re-opening is slated for June 1. Government officials are caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place, trying their best to balance the priority of keeping us all healthy with the critical need to get our economy and our people working again. Maine has fared better than most states in dealing with the health challenges brought on by the pandemic, but our economy has been ravaged nonetheless, with roughly one in six Mainers newly unemployed as a result of the virus.

We all just want to get back to normal as quickly as possible. But even with businesses reopening in the coming months, we’ll be operating under new safety guidelines based on the state’s industry specific checklists, with protective face-covering mandates, expanded cleaning requirements, and new operating protocols in place for the foreseeable future. This “new normal” won’t be easy, but it will be critical in safeguarding the health of employees and customers as we move forward. Until we have a “VC Day” with a vaccine or some other way to defeat this virus for good, our actions and behaviors will continue to be constrained even when all of our businesses are back open.

This virus has taken so much from us: lives of loved ones, cancelled ceremonies and celebrations, our cherished daily activities of school and work and leisure activities, many of our livelihoods, our ability to connect with each other in person, and more. But so much has also been illuminated by this disruption. And thankfully some things will never be impacted, even by this horrible pandemic. Here are a few examples of what is more obvious right now:

• How hard people work. For example, we might have suspected how much work it takes to effectively teach students. But for many of us with children at home now, it couldn’t be clearer how much effort it takes … thank you teachers! Likewise, we have all come to fully appreciate nurses and doctors, grocery workers, transportation employees, factory and warehouse employees — everyone who has continued to work hard everyday during this crisis, on farms, in factories, in office buildings, and all over. Their sacrifices and extra efforts have not gone unnoticed and will never be forgotten.

• How important it is to have effective government. Dealing with this crisis has caused economic devastation. But the society we have created has local, state and federal resources in place to mitigate the worst of the impacts. From unemployment insurance to business and individual support programs and from CDC leadership and expertise to state administrative guidance based first and foremost on science, good government is leading the way forward. No one likes paying taxes — and as a business organization the Chamber of Commerce primarily promotes private sector success. But just imagine what it would be like right now without a functioning public sector.

• How interconnected we all are locally. The Chamber of Commerce is an organization that promotes business success to help advance our community — and it’s even more obvious now that business success is inextricably linked with our community’s overall success. We need our businesses to thrive so we can all thrive as part of our local ecosystem together. There is no “they” in a crisis of global magnitude, there is only an “us.” And supporting our local businesses is supporting our community — so please continue to buy online from our local retailers, order take-out from our restaurants, and in general think local whenever you can, be it for purchases, support or connection. They need you now more than ever.

• How innovation drives us forward. It has been impressive to see businesses pivot so quickly this past month to provide much-needed PPE, ventilators, and other critical goods and services. Laboratories are working night and day on cures. There is a lot that has gone wrong in our collective response to this virus, and I hope we learn from those mistakes and make changes in the future as a result — but a lot has gone right too, with many of these successes led by the business and nonprofit communities.

And what hasn’t changed and can never be taken away from us by this virus, even in the midst of stay-at-home orders and global sickness?

• Our acts of kindness to one another. It’s been heartening to see all the varied acts of kindness that community members are providing for those in need: donating, volunteering, working bravely in frontline roles, checking on neighbors and relatives. Difficulties have a way of bringing out the best in people.

• The beauty of our environment. This virus is horrible, but it has no impact on the waves hitting our shores, the sun setting on the horizon, or the reemergence of Spring blossoming all around us daily. If you are home more these days, try to balance screen time with safe outdoor time whenever you can, experts tell us that it will help in staying grounded during this crisis.

• The importance of our family, friends and loved ones. The news is filled these days with stories about challenges to our economy and our health system, rightly so. It’s not “newsworthy” that all of us need and rely on those that are closest to us. But it’s been brought into plain relief with the stay-at-home orders these past weeks how important “connection” is in all aspects of our lives, out in the business community certainly but just as much in our homes too. Stay connected and stay well.

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