BRENHAM ECONOMIC RECOVERY TEAM ASSISTING REOPENING OF RESTAURANTS, BUSINESSES
Restaurants in Brenham and Washington County are among the local businesses receiving assistance through the efforts of the City of Brenham’s ReOpen Initiative team.
Tuesday, area restaurant owners participated in a virtual meeting with officials from Brenham Economic Development, the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, and the Blinn College Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
Some of the topics discussed at the meeting included opportunities to receive additional funding and cleaning supplies, the timelines established by state officials, and guidelines for reopening establishments.
Brenham Economic Development Director Susan Cates said many restaurants have had a difficult time getting their hands on hand sanitizer, temporal scan thermometers, and single-use pens and menus. She said the $10,000 provided by the city last week for the ReOpen Initiative will assist businesses in obtaining those items, while the $50,000 also given by the city for the Washington County COVID-19 Response Fund will help keep their doors open.
The funding has also allowed for the creation of a new website, www.BrenhamEats.com, which will feature the digital menus of any participating restaurant in the area. Cates said the website should help cut down on the cost and waste of printing single-use menus, although the SBDC is offering to print menus for restaurants at no cost to them.
Last week, restaurants were allowed to begin offering limited dine-in seating through Governor Greg Abbott’s executive order, which mandated a rule of 25 percent max occupancy. Cates said that 25 percent number was the result of lengthy discussions between the state and the Texas Restaurant Association. She added it is not meant to be a number for businesses to maximize their profits, but rather to ease them back into operation.
Cates said she is hopeful that the state can make it to the next phase of reopening, so economic recovery efforts can continue.
Cates said citizens should soon start seeing ReOpen partnership signs at local businesses. The signs, according to Cates, are ways for businesses to signal to customers that they are following proper reopening protocols. The laminated signs can be marked on with dry-erase markers to display a business’s current occupancy. They will also feature QR codes that customers can scan with their phone to see what reopening procedures that business is utilizing. Signs are available at the Visitor Center and Washington County Chamber of Commerce office, and will also be disbursed to businesses in Brenham’s surrounding communities.
Restaurant owners looking to put their information on the www.BrenhamEats.com website can email mrudloff@cityofbrenham.org.