MILDURA’S small business owners are staring at further uncertainty after regional Victoria was hit with harsh COVID-19 restrictions this week.
Mildura Regional Development (MRD) chief executive Brett Millington said there were a significant number of businesses in the retail and accommodation sectors who may not survive.
Stage 3 restrictions were imposed on Wednesday for the second time this year, forcing some enterprises to close for six weeks.
Under the rules, restaurants and cafes are able to continue trade, but only as takeaway and delivery businesses.
Mr Millington said the restrictions would have a significant impact, both financially and mentally, on business owners.
He said operators knew what to expect, which reduced some uncertainty, but the devastating impacts were also known.
“People got through that six weeks, had started to develop some business again and get back to some form of trade that might be related to normality.
“But to have this impact back on them certainly is a real challenge and I think there will be some businesses who may not survive.”
Mr Millington said while business owners could revert to a diversification of output, including a changed delivery service model, those changes were a “survival mechanism”.
“So you survived, you got through and now you’re back in that same situation.
“The biggest issue I think is going to be around mental health and we really need to be aware of that, not only in ourselves, but in the people around us and in particular in small business owners.
“They have taken a few whacks over the last six months and this is just another one.”
Mr Millington urged residents to shop local, whether it be online or through takeaway and delivery services, and support each other as best they could.
“If you have to pay a little bit extra to buy it from a local business, then I encourage you to do that.
“I don’t think (business owners’ concerns) have deviated from where it has been for six months now.
“It is really about the fixed costs of their businesses and what sort of support we can provide in that space.
“Obviously, from a MRD perspective, it is about doing what we can to promote local people to help support locals because that’s the main thing we can do at the moment.
“In the longer term, when we can actually welcome visitors back to our region, we will be doing our best to draw people here.
“We will be continuing to keep our Visit Mildura brand in focus, so that when people are allowed to travel again we are still a destination of choice.”
