07.17.21
Restaurant Revitalization Speaker Series – The Post and Mail
The Post and Mail of Whitley County
Presented by the WBC EmPWR Program at the NIIC, a member and partner of the Whitley County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center
The restaurant industry suffered devastating losses in 2020. With these harsh realities in mind, the WBC EmPWR Program at The NIIC developed the Restaurant Revitalization Speaker Series. Each virtual event features an Indiana restaurant industry expert and will be on a Monday or Wednesday this month, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Visit https://niic.net/restaurant/ for more information.
The 2021 State of Restaurant Industry Report, published by The National Restaurant Association, January 26, 2021, reported “key findings regarding the impact of coronavirus on the restaurant industry include:
- Restaurant and foodservice industry sales fell by $240 billion in 2020 from an expected level of $899 billion.
- As of December 1, 2020, more than 110,000 eating and drinking places were closed for business temporarily, or worse, permanently.
- The eating and drinking place sector finished 2020 nearly 2.5 million jobs below its pre-coronavirus level.”
This data hit home for Sarah Lance, WBC EmPWR Program Manager at The NIIC. “We’ve experienced this in our community, in our state. With so many in the foodservice industry facing such devastating challenges this past year, we thought there had to be something we could do to support them. In speaking with some Indiana restaurant owners, there emerged a need for connection with peers, to listen and learn from each other. This speaker series provides the platform to bring them together to connect on the challenges they all faced and the opportunities ahead for restaurants and foodservice, from food trucks to bakeries,” said Lance.
Read the rest of the article on thepostandmail.com
