Niwot small businesses show resilience as health restrictions linger

Each Wednesday morning, small business owners gather in a side dining room at the Niwot Tavern to strategize about keeping their businesses healthy in the wake of the pandemic.

Before mid-March, their meeting space was used for seating the Tavern's customers. By mid-November, as the restaurant has shifted to a take-out focused business model, it has become a storage space for restaurant supplies, baskets and holiday donations.

During their meeting, participants sit six feet apart with their chairs wedged between the items. Niwot Tavern Co-owner Tara Kpogoh-Narh placed coffee, cups, and creamer within easy reach, and group members talked nonstop for an hour and a half. Everyone was searching for ways to connect with the public.

"We can't do nothing, or we won't survive," said Deborah Fowler of Deborah Read Fowler Realty/Colorado Landmark Realtors. "We have to keep people understanding what we have to offer them as businesses." She's part of the Wednesday meetings, vice-president of the Niwot Business Association, and the president of the Women's International Niwot Club (WINC) in Niwot.

She continued, "We're at a critical point right now. It's important that we get the communication about what we do out there. We have to keep in front of them but how do we do it?"

It's a good question.

That morning, the group's answer appeared to be an array of ideas. The Niwot Tavern had been selling inexpensive, handmade gift baskets as another revenue generator. Kpogoh-Narh offered businesses the chance to include their own promotional items.

Fowler led an initiative to recruit volunteers to facilitate COVID-19 safe delivery of items to customers' doorsteps. Keeping in mind both the holiday and pandemic safety measures, she named the delivery team 'contactless elves.' She also was planning an outdoor December event with musicians, activity tents, and a gingerbread house decorating contest.

The Wednesday group originated as a subsection of the NBA and was led by members looking to take more time to talk through their ideas. Ultimately, they use ongoing meetings to identify and implement business promotion ideas, to understand and adapt to rapidly changing Covid-19 regulations, and to plan activities that keep the larger Niwot community connected.

With this in mind, Adam Robinson of SevenWealth and Alison Steele, co-owner of Niwot Market and a long-distance runner, led an effort to create a Niwot Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. The event was about both community and charity with registration fees donated to the Lefthand Grange in Niwot.

Given that it was outdoors, and that many community members take to trails Thanksgiving morning anyway, the run seemed like a no-brainer. Instead, it tested the group's resolve to create events in the context of shifting public health guidelines.

The Turkey Trot was nearly canceled and ultimately scaled back. Even with this compromise, the group's efforts for the run and for other activities seemed to face more challenges by the week.

Two days after the Wednesday meeting, Boulder County was moved to Level Red on the color coded COVID-19 dial. The change came with drastic restrictions on how businesses, especially bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues, could operate.

The same day the change took place, Gov. Polis shared research from the Colorado School of Public Health indicating that an estimated 1 in 49 Coloradoans were contagious with Covid-19.

Fowler said she's noticing a change in business owners. "People are getting more worried. They're worried about how long this is all going to last, how it's going to affect their business."

Despite escalating stress, the group gathered again the following Wednesday. If anything, members were becoming used to staying flexible and looking on the bright side.

Kpogoh-Narh shared that the Niwot Tavern had sold half of the gift baskets and was planning for more. Fowler had good news too. She'd worked out the details for the delivery service and was persisting in finding musicians that would come for holiday events. The ten spots available to compete in the gingerbread house decorating contest had been taken, but she was working on ways to convert the activity to an online, home-based version.

The group also shifted from brainstorming to logistics about the next day's Turkey Trot. After Friday's change to Level Red on the COVID dial, no one was sure of how many people would attend. In the end, the event drew about 60 runners, all masked and remaining distant from each other. Steele started everyone off, and Robinson and Kpogoh-Narh stood with her. Kpogoh-Narh's eyes seemed to reflect a deep smile behind her mask at the sight of the community gathering. "We raised $350," she said.

When asked what the community can do to help, to make all of the work worth it, the group answered quickly.

"We can try every trick in the book, but it's up to people to support us," said Robinson.

Fowler agreed. "We've got to get the message out that everybody, everybody in Niwot has to do something. Whether it's to buy a gift card, go to a store, call in and have a delivery."

These businesses are valuable for many reasons, including the unique, locally-focused items or services they offer. If one of them has to close, customers can't just go to another nearby town to find the same thing.

Eric Bergeson is the president of the NBA and owner of Niwot Wheel Works and an adjacent bar, The Wheel House, which opened during the pandemic. In quantifying the scope of what currently exists in the town's business community, he said, "There are 131 businesses that are a part of the NBA, ranging from real estate agents to restaurants to fitness services to retail."

As Niwot's business owners struggle to find ways to serve customers, ideas and events that are developed at these meetings could be with Niwot for the long haul. In fact, the group seemed to be hoping for that outcome.

On flyers, and in the small amounts of publicity they did for the Thanksgiving run, they called it the "first annual Niwot Turkey Trot." As she sent runners off, Steele promised everyone they hoped it would be bigger next year.

It's possible that Niwot will emerge as a stronger, more creative version of itself when the pandemic is past. There may be changed operations, updated services and even new holiday traditions that result from the pandemic's stressors.

If things change, it will be because of the resilience of Niwot's business owners. As Bergeson said, "These aren't normal times for businesses. To shop in Niwot is to support your neighbors and their tireless efforts to provide a service or sell goods that you need, want, and enjoy."