Missoula leaders advise stimulating local economy responsibly
MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana is one of the first states in the nation to start opening up after stay-at-home orders. On Wednesday, Missoula leaders said it’s time to start moving forward, but they say we still need to do it safely.
In a press call, leaders said it’s time to stimulate the economy, but they ask that everyone help do it responsibly by following the requests in each business.
Health officials say we’re not at the end of the pandemic, and there’s still risk, but there’s also economic risk.
On the call, leaders said we all know someone financially affected by COVID-19, even addressing the recent closure announcements of the Kettlehouse Brewery Northside and the Montana Distillery.
"We are going to lose businesses in our community. I think what we've seen already is just the start of what we're going to see to come. Part of the reason for us asking for this press conference is it’s an incredibly hard time on individuals, and it's an incredibly hard time on businesses. We need people to cooperate and follow the guidance of our health department to respect their opinions and their judgments when they tell us it's time to open and to respect their opinions and judgments when they tell us it's time to not," Grant Kier, with the Missoula Economic Partnership, said.
Gov. Steve Bullock announced $123 million in emergency grants Tuesday. The application website for those grants goes live Thursday at 8 a.m.
Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnick added that they’re going to unveil $100,000 in county grants to help locally.
Missoula health officials also hinted at a possible change coming soon regarding our added restrictions on phase one of the plan to reopen. Bullock allowed retail shops to open last week and bars and restaurants to open this week with limitations. The Missoula City-County Health Department added more limitations, stopping businesses like salons, spas and tattoo shops from opening just yet.
Health officials say we’ve now gone two weeks without a new case and have been without an active case for about a week. They say as we continue to see good numbers, more businesses will be able to open, eventually including salons.
“Ellen Leahy, our health officer, did want them to be closed a little bit longer, because at the time we still had nine active cases in Missoula and lots of close contact,” Cindy Farr, with the Missoula City-County Health Department, said. “Things have really changed in our community over the last week and a half. I believe, toward the end of this week, she will be reassessing her health officer orders and looking at where we are now and making changes to that.”
Missoula leaders say the goal is to get as many places open as possible but in a way that doesn’t result in a huge spike in our case numbers.
