Thurston County Businesses Chart Their Course for the Economy Reopening on June 30

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It's been one of the most difficult periods in U.S. history for the small business. But after months of starts and stops tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Jay Inslee announced earlier this month that, barring any major uptick in COVID-19 cases, the Washington economy will fully reopen on June 30.

Inslee also announced guidance for employers and employees in a proclamation on Friday, saying his proclamation "further permits employers to continue to require that employees wear a face covering, regardless of vaccination status."

That line is telling, because despite the return to 100 percent capacity next month, many business owners told The Olympian that they plan to remain cautious.

Master Jason Lee, co-owner of the family-run U.S. Martial Arts Center, which has locations in west Olympia and near Lacey as well as a new site for Tae Kwon Do in Tumwater, said he and his instructors will continue to wear their masks for now, although his staff members who are eligible have been vaccinated.

As for the students, they can decide whether they want to wear a mask, he said. Lee said he decided he will wear a mask to show support for those students who are still uncomfortable after June 30.

The Tumwater location, on Tumwater Boulevard near the airport, was supposed to open a year ago, but was delayed until recently because of the pandemic, Lee said.

He acknowledged it has been a frustrating year, but said martial arts teach more than self-defense, they also teach discipline and character. Both were called on to get through the past year, said Lee, a sixth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

"We do want to respect the laws and rules that were set in place," he said.

Restaurateur Christian Skillings, who operates Cynara in downtown Olympia and Iron Rabbit on the west side, said he welcomes the reopening of the economy and quickly added, "We're hiring."

Pressed for details, he said it again: "We're hiring."

And it's not just his restaurants, he said. All of them are looking for people.

The hospitality industry was hammered by the pandemic and shed more jobs than any other industry sector over the past year. In Thurston County, 5,200 jobs were lost, according to state data, and 1,700 of them were in a category that includes restaurants.

Skillings said he needs hosts, dishwashers, servers and cooks. "I keep growing my team every week," he said.

But outside of the need for more workers, Skillings said he has made no decisions about how the restaurants will operate after June 30.

"We're going to be overly cautious for the moment and go from there," he said, adding that he was waiting on guidance from the state Department of Labor & Industries. L&I released that guidance late Friday.



Among the agency's guidelines:

— Fully vaccinated employees do not have to wear a mask or socially distance at work, unless their employer still requires it.

— Before ending mask and social distance requirements, employers must confirm workers are fully vaccinated by having the worker either sign a document attesting to their status or provide proof of vaccination.

— Employers must be able to demonstrate they have verified vaccination status for workers who are not masked or physically distanced.

Chris Knudson, owner of the downtown restaurant Well 80 and co-owner of Casa Mia locations in Olympia and near Lacey, said he is prepared to return to 100 percent capacity, so long as his staff is comfortable with it.

He said most of his employees have been vaccinated and are starting to get more confident about the next step. He also needs to get tables reinstalled after they were removed to meet the pandemic requirement for reduced capacity.

Well 80 is getting closer to pre-pandemic revenue levels, while the Casa Mia restaurant near Lacey is almost there. But he said the Olympia Casa Mia location on Plum Street is still struggling because so much of its business was dependent on nearby state workers who are still working from home.

Yelm Cinemas has a detailed plan in place for June 30: The independent movie house plans to open all seats in its auditoriums, said general manager Noah Aden. The theater complex already is allowing fully vaccinated employees and customers to enter the building without a mask, he said.

"We will not be verifying customers (vaccination records)," Aden said. "We kind of think that people will be honest. I think people can make their own decision if they feel comfortable coming in without a mask if they're vaccinated or not."

Though they won't be questioning customers, Aden said the theater is verifying their employees' vaccination records before allowing them to go without a mask. He said no customers have expressed concerns about this policy, although few have taken advantage of it so far.

Aden said about eight out of 23 employees have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and three are fully vaccinated.

So far, Yelm Cinemas has closed and reopened three times, with the latest reopening occurring in February, Aden said. The theater was never at risk of closing permanently, he said.

Looking ahead, he said he is optimistic about the summer movie slate. He expects business to pick up Memorial Day weekend onward.

"It's hard to predict anything anymore based on what we've been through the past 14 months," Aden said. "We're optimistic about it and we think we're going to be very busy."