How Restaurateurs Are Rethinking Business Plans in Wake of COVID-19 | Eater

"Led by Martha Hoover, this 12-location Indiana restaurant group moved proactively at the start of the COVID-19 crisis—implementing enhanced sanitation and internal protocols, closing dining rooms ahead of mandates, and executing a centralized triage to inventory, redistribute, or store perishable and nonperishable stock. Management provided extensive staff support during layoffs, offering in-person help with unemployment paperwork, distributing meal packages (with vendor donations), and deploying an employee-run Emergency Relief (PEER) fund—financed in part by proceeds from a carryout operation—to assist with rent, food, and medical needs. The company is rethinking its business model to add paid sick and personal time for hourly workers, reduce salary overhead where possible, stagger reopenings and staffing, and rely more on data and expanded delivery/non–brick-and-mortar revenue streams; it also maintains a public information site to share benefits and operational updates with the community." - Martha Hoover