Press Democrat launching column focused on economic recovery in Sonoma County

Almost every topic of conversation with family, friends or colleagues includes the stipulation whether we’re talking about before the pandemic began in March 2020 or after.

The public health crisis and ensuing economic upheaval reverberated through Sonoma County households. It long will serve as an indelible marker for us to assess our personal lot in life as a consumer and worker.

Same goes for the business sector. Owners and managers are reviewing how they adapted and maybe deciding to adopt the best survival lessons they learned and planning to continue integrating them into operations.

The recessionary economic conditions pushed many local companies to the brink in the past 15 months and forced an untold number to throw in the towel.

Aside from the 300-plus lives lost countywide to COVID-19, perhaps the most harrowing and life-altering indicator of the brutal blow to the county’s then-thriving economy was the nearly 48,000 local residents who were jettisoned from their jobs during the onset of the pandemic.

That feverish employer furloughing catapulted the county’s unemployment rate in April 2020 to an unheard of 15.4%, an 80-year high. (To everyone who was laid off and those still without a job, please forgive me for the painful reminder.)

Now that two-thirds of us age 12 or older are fully vaccinated and another 10% have gotten a first shot, we can finally keep this highly contagious and sometimes deadly coronavirus under firm control. With the community on the cusp of what infectious disease experts call “herd immunity,” we’re entering a period of calm — one in which it will be quite difficult for the virus to circulate and infect us. And one in which consumers and businesses hope they can again achieve success and financial growth.

Although medical experts haven’t yet declared the public health nightmare completely over, we’re moving ahead with consolation the worst of the pandemic appears to be in the rear view mirror. At least we’re past the pain and nearly 95% of us here who want a job are indeed employed.

When it comes to our workforce and the collective production output of area businesses — the two critical things that power our local economy — there’s a lot of work ahead to enjoy a full recovery.

Make no mistake, this rebound we’ve just begun to experience is uneven and filled with an array of challenges and unpredictability. One variable to closely monitor from a public health perspective is the rapidly spreading delta virus mutation. First detected in India and now delaying reopening in the United Kingdom, the variant only represents 10% of U.S. cases, but that portion has been doubling every two weeks. It poses a serious risk to the unvaccinated, medical professionals say.

To provide a forum to share our area’s consumer and business recovery experiences over the coming months, Richard Green, the new Press Democrat editor, asked me if I’d start writing an occasional column centered on the post-pandemic economy in Sonoma County and greater North Bay.

Although in three decades in journalism as a reporter and editor I’ve been fortunate to cover a wide range of financial, health care, education and technology stories and, yes, too many of them about the effects of natural disasters (Northern California wildfires and earlier South Florida hurricanes) from five states plus Bermuda and Brazil, this Philadelphia-area native never has been a columnist.

Quickly realizing what’s at stake in Sonoma County for all of our careers and local businesses in this hard-earned pandemic recovery, I’m giving it a whirl.

I’m striving to tell your stories about the challenges, concerns and trends local consumers and companies are facing during the rebound. To do that, it’s essential to have conversations with every corner of the Press Democrat audience. And I also want to talk to those in the community who aren’t our regular readers, but want to share their financial viewpoints or work-related experiences with me.

Because I’m a veteran journalist and storyteller rather than an economist, don’t expect economic predictions and financial declarations from me. In interviews and research to drive this column, I’m going to be counting on you, the workers, and worker advocates, retirees, business owners, managers, investors, bankers, local, state and federal elected leaders, and, yes, the economists and financial analysts, to keep me abreast of pivotal points and fluctuations in this recovery to better inform our entire community.

To be clear, my plan is to give equal focus to consumers and area companies.

In the general sense as consumers, that means the changes associated with daily work routines and your workplaces, and how you choose to spend and invest your money.

For businesses, I want to hear about the difficulties and decisions you make around staffing, planning, investing, competing and executing to maximize production of goods you produce, or how you are proceeding to deliver an array of highly efficient and satisfactory services to your customers.

Please connect with me the way you prefer. I’m available by email at paul.bomberger@pressdemocrat.com. Or by text or phone at 215-237-4448.

And don’t forget Twitter. If you want to message me there, it’s @BiznewsPaulB.