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When Gov. Eric Holcomb rolled out his Back on Track Indiana plan May 1, I have to be honest—I had mixed emotions. I downloaded and studied the 33-page document from the state government website and I still wasn’t sure what I thought.
Of course, you can read for yourself what the governor’s plan says—and you can see all our COVID-19 coverage, much of which is free—at ibj.com. But I think most of us can agree on one thing. At least there’s one thing I’m absolutely sure of: I’m very grateful I’m not the one who has to make these difficult decisions, which carry great consequences for all Hoosiers.
What an unprecedented and massive undertaking this has been, is now and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Holcomb and his team have my utmost respect and gratitude for their tireless work and leadership navigating this pandemic.
Having said that, the return to “normal life” at work and in the community on the homefront is not progressing nearly fast enough. Waiting until July 4 for a full reopening? That’s just not fast enough.
Add to the long wait all the requirements and restrictions mandated for businesses to reopen fully, and you’ve got a situation that seems oppressive and counter to conducting business efficiently. When can we take the handcuffs off and really get back to business so we can be productive and profitable again?
If you’re really upset and disgusted with what you might perceive as irresponsible, uncaring and selfish commentary in the preceding paragraph, hold up on that nasty email you are about to fire off to me and please hear me out.
First, I realize the business climate I want can’t be what I described—not at this time.
Of course, we must make the health of our fellow human beings our top priority, and I know that takes vigilance and patience. In this scenario, profit will have to take a back seat at many companies—for now. The multibillion-dollar question is—how long can each company weather this financial storm before it runs out of money? Government loans—forgiven or not—along with grants and the like are not endless pots of money.
Most of us are now developing our customer and employee safety plans to bring our businesses back to full operation. I know IBJ Media will do what’s right for our customers and employees. And I’m confident your company will do the same. I stole this saying from somewhere: “This, too, shall pass. It may be as painful as a kidney stone, but it will pass.”
Earlier, I was just being honest. Many of us are thinking about keeping our businesses financially viable until science can provide us with a vaccine for COVID-19. When you think about this pandemic, it’s all about survival—the survival of our lives and livelihoods. We have to be healthy and we have to be able to pay our bills. This is true for people and companies. We’re all conducting an incredibly difficult balancing act.
Returning to the governor’s Back on Track Indiana plan, I applaud Holcomb and his team for presenting a thoughtful path forward. It’s subject to change, but we have an idea of when government restrictions will end if all goes well. It’s a matter of threading the needle between health and economic concerns.
Let’s all get on board and, I hope, we won’t have to repeat this anytime soon.•
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Morris is publisher of IBJ. His column appears every other week. To comment, send email to gmorris@ibj.com.
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