Following the Great Recession of 2008, economic recovery was highly uneven in communities across the country. In many ways, recovery favored large, dense urban centers, often at the expense of smaller communities. But this trend was not universal across places or industries.

What will be the post COVID-19 impact?

The greatest lasting impact of the pandemic is the acceleration of trends. I have said often that “COVID forced us to make many changes in a short period of time – most of which we should have already been doing.” The acceleration of using the internet to access, transact, and connect everything will be the most lasting impact.

For me there are obvious trends that will survive post pandemic.

I do not believe we even know or understand all the long-term impacts from COVID yet.  However, of the ones in front of us right now, the most concerning is the impact COVID is having on our labor force.

The lasting impact of COVID 19 on society will be significant in the ways we live, work and play. 

Employers will be more concerned about employee health and safety permanently. Before the pandemic, most emphasis was on maintaining “no lost work-days” or maximizing “the number of days with no accidents”. Going forward it is going to include standard safety procedures, but also intense scrutiny on how lines are laid out, ventilation with bacteria removing filters, acceleration of automation in processes to reduce density in plants, office workers with limited workdays in plants, temperature checks etc.

After the pandemic, here are ten expectations.

While my initial thoughts focused on women’s wage gap increases, I do think there will be positive outcomes as well. I believe we will see more small business start-ups. There will be a greater need for need small business and economic development support. My cousin was laid off from a corporate HR job in Chicago and she spun it into her own private HR consulting endeavor. Her former clients followed her.

The pandemic forced many employers to suddenly, and for a prolonged period, transition to a work from home model. A forced trial, one could say. Early on, employers seemed to feel that productivity remained as high, or higher, than their previous on-site or hybrid model. Over time, concerns about burnout, mental health, lack of in-person interaction, and even productivity have become more prevalent.

More recent feedback from employers is that they will likely not go back to pre-pandemic on-premises staffing, nor will there be a long-term work from home focus.

Post-pandemic, I think some things will remain the same, while others will revert back to pre-pandemic norms.

I manage an accredited Main Street program in Orange, Virginia, population 5,042. Main Street programs focus on preservation-based economic development, so for this tiny town, home of President James Madison and renowned chef, Edna Lewis, you'd think that preservation-based economic development would come easy. 

NOT.

Next in our series on post-pandemic recovery is from Ashley Llewellyn with St. Tammany Corp.

A Note from DRF: A question we find ourselves asking right now is what communities will look like and how they will operate in a post-pandemic world. As restrictions are lifted, we may freely move about more but some businesses, organizations and those in the workforce will still struggle to recover for some time to come. DRF asked our friend Ted Abernathy with Economic Leadership LLC to curate some thoughts on the subject from leaders across the United States to help us think about what’s next.

First up, Gene Stinson, president of the Southern Economic Development Council.

DRF hosted a conversation moderated by Ted Abernathy with Economic Leadership LLC looking at how a global pandemic has impacted local industries in the Dan River Region and how their businesses have changed for the future.

Joining Ted for the conversation were:

Greg Anderson, First Citizen's Bank

Tim Clark, Blair Construction

Alisa Davis, Reid Street Gallery & Cafe

Ramsey Yeatts, Ramsey Yeatts & Associates Realtors

On Monday, August 31 DRF hosted a conversation led by Ted Abernathy of Economic Leadership LLC, DRF with Anita Brown-Graham, UNC School of Government and ncImpact Initiative, and Stephen Moret, president and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership talking about their expectations for the balance of 2020, and what lasting changes we should all expect in the coming years.