Adrienne Bryant’s Letter to Rick

Dear Rick:

Throughout this entire Covid-19 situation, people have felt the need to share as much information as possible about resources provided by the CDC, municipalities and various medical providers. It seems thousands of resource pages were put together almost overnight. And don’t get me wrong, that was a great thing. Whenever people are working together to share valuable information, it’s good!

However, what seemed to be a little slower were the resource collections that would help business owners move forward out of the ”shut down” phase and into the ”recovery” phase. Very early on, we were able to recognize the need to transition from sharing information related to surviving to sharing recovery strategies.

Thus, the creation of BCRE’s ReCOVery resource toolkit. The content it intended to assist business owners with formulating plans to reopen in this new environment, and in fact, help them to see that they will actually be the people who create the new environment. It was never about ”back to business as usual.” We needed to assist business owners to take control of creating their new ”usual” and setting themselves up to thrive.

As a small, family-owned Commercial Real Estate business, we understand the challenges that business owners are facing due to the impacts of COVID-19, not only on business, but also on the lives of our families and community.

We are experiencing extreme challenges in the small business community and it is important that we assist business owners in any way we can. One area we’ve identified that we can help with is assisting with guiding the conversations with Landlords that will be necessary for those with brick and mortar space. We began these discussions in March 2020. By providing clear direction and documentation designed to allow business owners to demonstrate not only their awareness of the need to alter business plans but also their transparency in dealings with Landlords, we were able to assist many of our clients and the business community at large prepare for some difficult but necessary discussions. We have continued these efforts monthly and continue to conquer new challenges.

We understand that uncertain times can create anxiety. We have insightful discussions and talk through the fears and concerns that we all are facing. We are finding that these conversations are impactful and that they bring a sense of relief. Maybe because we have found that we are not alone this time around and that, together, we can all work to move toward that which will become our new normal.

Sincerely,

Adrienne Bryant
Bryant Commercial Real Estate

[Read the July 2020 Guest Editor Letter from Adrienne Bryant]