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Local businesses still reeling from staffing shortages

News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Freier’s Pizzeria owner Randy Freier flips the open sign to closed at his business on Thursday. He has had to reduce how many days a week he is open and cut his hours of operation due to a staffing shortage. Many other businesses are struggling to hire help and have altered their schedules and operations.

ALPENA — We are hanging on by a thread.

That is how one small business owner in Alpena described the seriousness of the current condition of her business because of the inability to recruit and retain employees.

Many businesses in Alpena have reduced hours and limited their days of operation because there isn’t enough staff to run them at full capacity. The workers they do have are beginning to leave because of the long hours they are forced to work.

Randy Freier owns Freier’s Pizzeria in downtown Alpena. He moved into his new location in January, and was enjoying the success of the new location, especially during lunch hours when employees from other downtown businesses would purchase a bite to eat.

Now, he said, he doesn’t have enough staff to keep his dining room open, and has cut his business from six days a week down to three.

Freier said he feels like the cards are stacked against him because there has been one challenge after another. First, Freier said, he needed to alter operations because of COVID-19, and then there were capacity limits in place to limit the virus’ spread.

Now, he said, he is struggling to even get applications. When someone is hired, they rarely stick around long because they quit to take other jobs at places for higher wages.

Moving forward, at least for the immediate future, he said, the restaurant will only be open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. If this becomes a long-term issue, it could threaten the future of the business.

“I hired two people and they both quit after two days, so it is back to square one,” Freier said. “I began closing in the first part of the week, so the few employees I have got a break. I put everything I have into my business, but if this lasts as long as some people predict, I won’t survive.”

The story is the same for John Boys Restaurant. The business, located on Chisholm Street, is famous for offering 24-hour delivery, seven days a week. The schedule now is a far cry from what it was before the pandemic, and manager Danielle Fenstermaker said things are getting worse.

Additional changes to the hours of operation could occur, including on weekends, when the business may have to close on Friday and Saturday, Fenstermaker said.

“We are looking at doing that at the end of August, unless a miracle happens,” she said. “We can’t even get applications? We have nobody applying.”

Many other businesses have also closed or reduced hours to give dedicated workers a break, or to try to hire more help. On Monday, Cabin Creek Coffee posted an update on its Facebook page updating customers of new hours and informing them that the shop would be closed for two days.

The post said the two-day closure and amended hours would only be for this week.

“Like most others in the restaurant and hospitality industry we too are facing staff shortages. We are doing our best to be open seven days a week with our standard hours but unfortunately this week we need to make an adjustment,” the post said.

The Black Sheep didn’t open on Sunday in order to give the dedicated employees a day off. Freier said he tries his best to find a way to give his staff time off, but said it’s hard to do.

“They can’t do this forever,” he said. “They are working 12 to 14 hours a day. If that keeps up I’ll lose them too.”

Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Adam Poll said it isn’t just restaurants and small businesses who need help. He said employee shortage is an issue across the board.

“This is a seriously widespread problem and it’s not only your entry-level jobs like a cashier, but this is affecting professional positions as well,” Poll said. “Manufacturing is another sector that I’m hearing there are plenty of open jobs. If you want a job in Alpena right now, you will get it.”

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