The hospitality industry operates on thin margins to begin with.  Two in every three new retaurants that open will be closed in five years.  Restuarant owners face many challenges on a daily basis.  They did not see the coming pandemic and requisite shut down of society in March of 2020.  This shut down devasted the hospitality industry and forced restaurants to rethink their role in society in order to survive.  The shut down also thrust upon local, state and the federal government the need for aid to these business owners and their employees. 

The following is a record of restaurant owners' voices disucssing how their organizatons adapted to meet the challenges of the pandemic.  They also discuss the effects of government aid and restrictions from both the local and federal government.  Their voices close with prognostications for the winter of 2020-21 and its effect on the industry.  Aside from their voices, a collection of restaurant pictures and news articles from the spring, summer and fall of 2020 that are relevant to the subjects' comments are attached.  The Hospitality and Restaurant industry typically returns 90% of it's revenue back into the local community in the form of wages and overhead.  They are vital local economic engines for a thriving community.  It is of utmost importance that they survive.