“A year unlike any other.”
It could be the title of a Hollywood movie. It’s even a bit cliche. But that’s the fitting headline of Hartford Business Journal’s final print issue of the year for a series of stories highlighting the challenges five Connecticut leaders faced in 2020, shepherding their respective organizations through a once-in-a-century pandemic.
As we head into the final weeks of 2020, it’s a good time to reflect on a year that brought much pain to individuals and businesses. A health crisis quickly turned into an economic and social crisis, the likes of which none of us had previously experienced. As COVID-19 vaccines begin to roll out in Connecticut and across the country there is much hope for the future. We simply must be patient and cautious before we get there.
2021 should be a year of economic recovery and return to some level of normalcy. Until then, here’s a look back at 2020.
The good
Connecticut’s healthcare industry has shown remarkable resilience in dealing with the pandemic. Frontline workers have put their lives on the line to help patients severely sickened by the disease, and hospital systems bent but did not break even as their resources were stretched thin during the spring surge in COVID-19 cases. As we head into a second wave this winter, hospitals are better prepared to handle and treat the virus, though the challenges they face are no less daunting.
Many businesses, too, have suffered this year. However, Connecticut employers — many kept afloat by potentially forgivable loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program — have displayed incredible ingenuity to survive and even thrive during the pandemic. Many companies this spring moved to a remote work setting practically overnight, pivoted to new products or services and found others ways to make ends meet.
That Yankee ingenuity was inspiring and will be needed more than ever in a post-COVID world. Workers, too, deserve credit for juggling various responsibilities this year, including, at times, both child care and work simultaneously.
The bad
More than 260,000 Connecticut residents lost jobs in April; we are still down about 90,000 jobs for the year. More than 600 restaurants are estimated to have closed in the state since March.
Connecticut’s economy shrank a historic 31% in the second quarter.
Meantime, 5,000 residents and counting have died of coronavirus in the state. These are all grim numbers that reflect just how devastating COVID-19 has been on Connecticut, the country and world.
Looking ahead
A bright spot as we head into 2021 is that vaccines will start to be distributed in the state in a matter of days, and Connecticut has been on a slow but consistent economic recovery for months.
At the same time, Connecticut’s short-term finances remain OK, unlike many other states, because we built up a $3-billion rainy day fund.
Congress also appears to be getting closer to passing another stimulus package that will provide much-needed capital to small businesses hit hardest by the pandemic. If we force businesses to close down during a pandemic, the government has a responsibility to provide them and their workers economic relief.
Finally, many top local business leaders and economists have a relatively positive outlook for next year, providing further optimism.
So let’s all finish the year strong, take some time off to recharge and get ready to make 2021 the year of recovery.