As everyone navigates the first 'reopening' phases of a COVID-19 pandemic, it's OK for emotions to be mixed, concerns to be prevalent, and thoughts to be muddled. Afterall, it's a risky, vacillating period of human history. Life and business will look differently for awhile.
However, Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney leads the way toward responsible, safe next steps by focusing on positives, from wherever they come.
"We're certainly excited to be moving forward. I know there's light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve seen this health crisis bring out the very best in this community and our brightest days are yet ahead of us," assures the mayor.
Restarting the community’s economic engine while maintaining safety is Jeff's mission.
"We’ve been anticipating what the new way of doing business would look like in a COVID-19 era,” he says. “Our pre-planning will help us carry out the state’s orders while balancing our need to keep our residents, employees, business operators and visitors safe.”
He says that the community’s health safety is paramount. “But we also want to make sure we’re here to bridge the gap for our business community as safely as possible.”
“We’re ready to put our foot back on the gas and get back to the Frisco we know,” Jeff said during a Frisco Chamber of Commerce’s virtual event April 28. During that address, Jeff admitted there has been confusion in the business community over what occupancy number to use.
“A restaurant’s listed occupancy may be higher than the number of chairs that they have. It isn’t necessarily 25% of what they’re used to having in the establishment. It’s 25% of listed occupancy. Many of Frisco’s restaurants have a listed occupancy of 250 to 300 people," reminded the mayor.
At press time, Jeff was hopeful that by the end of May, every business type in Frisco would be open in some capacity, if not at least at 50% or more.
"And we plan to have some version of Freedom Fest for Fourth of July. That gives us a great target date. This year, it will ring in a different message in addition to freedom, one about sense of community. It will be wonderfully symbol event," he promises.
