LEFT : David Dindak , Morgan Hill Downtown Association President and co-owner of Bubbles and Brew in Morgan Hill credits collaboration between businesses , local chambers of commerce , business groups and non-profits as key to leading through shelter-in-place . CENTER : Gilroy and Morgan Hill communities benefited from new marketing efforts focused on supporting local business . Bobby and Fran Beaudet of Old City Hall in Gilroy credit their customers for helping their business successfully navigate the past 12 months . They , like us , look forward to brighter days for all !
Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat . - Steve Jobs
secured financial institution decided to wait .
Vanni is pleasantly surprised at how resilient not only Gilroy , but the Bay Area as a whole , has been throughout the pandemic . “ The housing market has done very well in Gilroy and Morgan Hill . That inflow of people has kept the market somewhat strong ... I think that has been a real positive .”
Treasurer of the Gilroy Downtown Business Association , John Taft , acknowledges the staying power of long time businesses as well as the entrepreneurial spirit exhibited by new business owners .
“ We ’ ve got a potential restaurant coming into the ( former ) Golden State Brewery space ( at 7560 Monterey Street ),” Taft said . “ There ’ s activity in the market and there are things coming into Gilroy .”
Gilroy ’ s Mayor , Marie Blankley , agrees and feels the city has done “ relatively well .”
“ It ’ s been of course hard and devastating , I see people in the community accepting that this is a long-haul process and — coming out — and doing what they can to help each other ,” Blankley said . “ A lot of people have really bent over backwards to support local businesses . I feel very proud of all that the city of Gilroy has been able to do to help residents and our small businesses .”
Tourism in both Gilroy and Morgan Hill suffered severely due to the pandemic as county and state mandates strongly discouraged leisure travel . Jane Howard , Executive Director of Visit Gilroy and the California Welcome Center Gilroy said they combated this directive by pivoting their marketing campaigns .
“ Using our social media tools we focused marketing to the 95020 folks ,” Howard said . The Chamber of Commerce and the city of Gilroy co-sponsored two
“ Support Gilroy ” campaigns to help attract local attention .
“ So , we shifted our message . The overarching theme was ‘ Stay Loyal , Stay Local , Support Gilroy ,’” Howard said . “ And we had amazing results from both campaigns .”
According to Visit California , California ’ s state tourism spending in 2020 dropped more than fifty percent from 2019 after nearly a decade of consistent growth , states Executive Director of Visit Morgan Hill , Krista Rupp .
“ The implementation , lifting , and reinstating of stayat-home-orders and guidance … created start-and-stop operational challenges for hotels , restaurants , wineries , event venues , and sports facilities ,” Rupp said . “ The ‘ no-travel ’ and group gathering mandates have had obvious impacts on the hotel industry .”
“ Visit Morgan Hill has worked closely with the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce , Wineries of Santa Clara Valley , the Downtown Association , and the City of Morgan Hill . Collaboration between these organizations enriches the long term development of vibrant tourism destinations , which is part of our mission at Visit Morgan Hill . Stay-at-home orders prescribe that our overnight travel messaging be , ‘ When you ’ re ready to travel …’ but we remain at the ready to say , ‘ We welcome you now ,’ as soon as we can ,” Rupp said .
Howard ’ s positivity regarding the future , once Covid-19 is safely behind us , is one hopefully we all can embrace .
“ We just want to appreciate what we have here locally , as well as in our state , and take care of it ,” she said .
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