OBSERVER File Photo Fredonia being selected the winner of Season 5 of Small Business Revolution and the follow ups were among the most-read business-related stories in 2020.

Editor’s Note: Today, The OBSERVER continues its look back at the top stories of 2020 and the way they will shape the coming year. Today, 20 for 2020 looks at the business stories that were among the most-read in the newspaper this year.

For years, Chautauqua County has tried to pivot its economy to make better use of tourists and their disposable income.

COVID-19 changed all that.

A recent New York State Association of Counties report analyzes total taxable sales in Chautauqua County for June through August 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

Struggling areas of the economy come as little surprise. The biggest percentage decrease year-over-year came in the traveler accommodation industry, which lost 58.6% of its total taxable sales due to the pandemic. Gas stations lost 25.5% of their taxable sales, followed by petroleum and petroleum products wholesalers at 23.9%. Restaurants lost 15% of their total taxable sales while automotive repair and maintenance shops lost 14.4% of their total taxable sales.

OBSERVER File Photo It was announced this year that Petri Baking Products, Inc. was reopening in Silver Creek.

Other amusement and recreation industries lost 22.4% of their taxable sales. Wired and wireless communications decreased 12.8%.

The delivery of more and better therapeutics, and vaccines, will help facilitate this transition, but we could be well into 2021 before that process is completed and people feel comfortable returning to ‘normal’ activities,” a recent New York State Association of Counties report stated.

A region that has struggled to provide enough jobs to its residents in recent years lost even more of those jobs this year. The most recent state Labor Department statistics show Chautauqua County lost 4,800 jobs from November 2019 to November 2020, a 9.4% increase.

The news isn’t all bad, however, as a look at five of the most-read business stories from the past years shows. Two projects are poised to take major steps forward while seven small businesses look to capitalize on some national expertise.

SEVEN SELECTED FOR SMALL BUSINESS REVOLUTION

OBSERVER File Photo Demetrios Tsirtsakis and his wife Joy plan to enjoy retirement from their restaurant Demetris to the fullest.

The businesses that were featured include: Fresh & Fancy Flowers & Gifts, Literacy Volunteers of Chautauqua County, The Hair Bar, Om Nohm Gluten Free, Nyce and Clean Premium Detailing, The Vineyards Golf Course and Lena’s Pizza and Sub Shop.

In January, the village of Fredonia was announced as the winner for Season 5 of Small Business Revolution, out of thousands of small towns across the country. Deluxe will infuse $500,000 worth of marketing and renovations to help the town and the chosen seven businesses.

“This part of the process is always so hard for us, because all the businesses are deserving,” said Amanda Brinkman, Chief Brand & Content Officer at Deluxe. “However, we could only choose seven, and we chose businesses where we thought Deluxe could make the most impact.”

The Small Business Revolution Season 5, starring the village of Fredonia, is now available to watch on multiple platforms. Season 5 is now available to watch on https://smallbusinessrevolution.org/small-business-revolution/main-street/season-five/ and YouTube for free. The show should soon be available for viewing on Hulu and Amazon Prime as well.

COVID-19 has impacted the world, the community, and everything in between, including the filming of the TV show Small Business Revolution by Deluxe.

“It certainly is a new experience. It’s amazing that we were lucky enough to get into Fredonia to meet the businesses, see the town, and see the spirit before the pandemic hit,” said Ty Pennington, co-host of the show.

Regarding the pandemic, Deluxe took lengthy measures to combat against the spread of the virus and focus on the safety of the crew. The crew was supposed to be back in Fredonia in July to finish the filming of season 5, but due to travel restrictions, those plans were canceled. The show finished filming virtually and remotely.

“This crisis is affecting small businesses disproportionately,” Brinkman said. “A lot of small businesses are realizing that they need to have a strong online presence. If you have a great website, if you’re communicating with your customers, you can compete bigger online even if you are a small business.”

A NEW IDENTITY

The limit on in-person dining as part of the NY Pause orders prompted Wing City Grille in Fredonia to close on April 30. At the time, no one knew if the business would reopen.

As it turned out, late September brought a new restaurant from the same ownership group — Buddy Brewster’s Ale House.

Andrew Carlson and his wife Amber own several area restaurants, including Village Casino in Bemus Point, Chop House on Main in Jamestown, an Arby’s in Pennsylvania and now Buddy Brewster’s in Fredonia. The Carlsons are both from Western New York, with Andrew growing up in Bemus Point and Amber in Jamestown. They both have business degrees and wanted to start businesses locally.

“We took advantage of this time that everyone was home and not coming out to remodel,” Andrew said. “We’ve wanted to do a rebrand here — a remodel, and a refocus for a long time so this is a whole new restaurant. There’s nothing left of Wing City.”

The restaurant’s name originated from a business class at the State University of New York at Fredonia. They all came up with and voted on names and logo designs, and Buddy Brewster’s won.

APPRECIATIVE OF YOUR SUPPORT

After nearly 30 years in business, Demetri’s on the Lake is now under new management.

Demetrios “Jamie” Tsirtsakis has decided to retire. He along with his wife of 30 years, Joy, are looking forward to doing whatever they want with their time.

“I just want to say thanks to all the years that people have supported me,” Tsirtsakis said. “I came 30 years ago to Dunkirk, I opened this place in 1991, I’ve been here for a long time, but it’s time to retire.”

Tsirtsakis came from a small village called Sofiko in Greece, which is near the border of Turkey. After leaving his village, he spent time in Athens during his early teen years and served in the Greek Marines for two years. He arrived in the United States in 1975 where he became a citizen and eventually landed in Silver Creek in 1982. There he started at Lucky’s, which is where the Rite Aid parking lot now is located, and then moved on to Tom’s Restaurant where he was open 24 hours. Not long after, he came to Dunkirk and Mark’s Restaurant, where he fell in love with the waterfront.

“We want to thank all the employees that came and went, some that stuck with us all these years,” Joy added. “Thank you to our loyal customers. I ran Katerina’s upstairs and I just want to thank everybody that booked and did anything with me, everything from 20 people to 140 people, from baby showers to bridal showers, to weddings to graduations, sorority parties, firemen’s dinners, sadly funerals, we did it all and it was always a pleasure and for that I’m extremely grateful. It was an absolute joy to serve everybody for whatever occasion that they needed.”

A REOPENING

SILVER CREEK — Petri Baking Products, Inc. announced its intention to return and reopen the soft cookie baking operation there.

Petri Baking Products, Inc. (Petri) has reincorporated with the intention of recreating their success as the top private label soft cookie manufacturer in the United States. But this time they are not going to stop with making only cookies. Petri plans to build a successful, stable platform of cookie sales to start with, and then springboard into any and all categories of the snack food aisle. This time when their satisfied retail chain customers ask: “What else can you make for us?” the answer will be: “What else do you want?”

The company’s former president, Anthony Habib, returned to the helm as president and is presently assembling his leadership team.

“Our family was devastated when we received the news that Petri was going to close in 2013.” Habib continued, “While we cannot fix the past seven years, we are excited to start a new chapter in Silver Creek while building a business that produces baked goods for grocery and big box stores throughout the U.S.”

Petri plans to acquire its former location in the familiar red block building located at 18 Main Street, Silver Creek. Renovations will return the facility to food grade status, and brand new machinery and equipment will be installed – including one new oven to start – with plans for future growth. Approximately 40 new jobs are planned when operations begin in early 2021, with over 100 projected during the first three years. According to the company, all jobs will be high quality with attractive benefits.

During a June IDA meeting, Habib said they were hoping to move ahead immedately, but the New York Job Development Authority was unable to give its necessary approval until October.

“Right now our timeline is considerably blown up,” he said. “We’re still working through those logistics.”

COMING TO DUNKIRK

The Chautauqua Center is going to be building a new facility on the empty lot located on the corner of Third Street and Park Avenue.

“We did a thorough assessment, looking at buildings and lots and found that it was cheaper to build a whole new structure as opposed to renovating an existing one,” said Michael Pease, chief executive officer of The Chautauqua Center. “We secured the property in October of last year and after doing assessments and environmental site reviews we’re ready to begin construction.”

The Chautauqua Center is hoping to break ground soon on the new facility that will be located at Third Street and Park Avenue in the city of Dunkirk. The project recently priced at around $4 million is now looking to cost closer to $6 million due to the lack of supplies available in the general market at this time.

“The pandemic really raised the cost of wood,” Peace said. “Everyone is vying for the same small supply available. A lot of companies have shut down or can’t put out the supply they normally do due to the virus and it’s just making things more costly.”

To help secure the additional $2 million in unforeseen building costs, the organization is looking into new market tax credits which will incur the equity they need.