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It’s been one week since Gov. Brian Kemp’s order allowing certain businesses to reopen went into effect. Many businesses opted to remain closed as the COVID-19 outbreak continues, but others decided to give it a go, including Bad Axe Throwing on the Westside.

The results were less than stellar. In fact, they were a “nightmare,” according to the company’s president and CEO, Mario Zelaya.

The recreational entertainment venue where customers, literally, throw axes at targets while enjoying food and beverages has been a popular destination since it opened in 2017 (read INtown’s feature on Bad Axe in our archive at this link), but customers weren’t ready to get back to having fun just yet.

“We did a lot of marketing. We spent a lot of money letting people know we’re open. It had zero impact. The reopening weekend was a disaster. We had two customers all weekend. This points to a bigger problem the entertainment industry is going to have,” Zelaya said.

Zelaya said Bad Axe took extra safety and sanitation precautions including wiping down the axes with Clorox wipes, cleaning tables and surfaces, limiting capacity, and coaches maintaining social distancing.

Zelaya said Bad Axe’s reopening debacle is a cautionary tale for other businesses planning to follow suit.

“We prepared for the worst, but two customers was something we never imagined. Bars, bowling alleys, movie theaters, axe throwing and any other entertainment concepts are going to have the most difficult time reaching normalcy after the closures. This past weekend showed us that. It’s very worrisome for our Atlanta location.”

Zelaya said Bad Axe would try it again this weekend with limited hours. “We hope this weekend is much better than the last, but we need to keep things alive.’

The company, which has multiple locations around the US and abroad, planned to reopen its Oklahoma City location on May 1 despite the turnout in Atlanta.

The post Intown business describes ‘nightmare’ reopening with only two customers all weekend appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

The AJC Peachtree Road Race, an Independence Day tradition, will be postponed until Thanksgiving Day due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Atlanta Track Club, the race’s organizer, had opened registrations March 15 in the midst of widespread pandemic closures with cautions that cancelation or postponement could happen. The delay is the first in the race’s 51-year history.

The 10K race begins at Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall with a route including Midtown, Piedmont Park and Centennial Olympic Park. It draws tens of thousands of participants.

“As Atlanta and the nation continue to take precautions to slow and stop the spread of COVID-19, we understand that Peachtree participants, volunteers, medical staff and the other first responders who keep them safe need more time to prepare for this year’s race,” said Rich Kenah, executive director of Atlanta Track Club and the race’s director, in a press release. “We are thankful for the opportunity to move forward together with all of Atlanta on Thanksgiving Day in a responsible and safe format.”

Thanksgiving this year is Nov. 26. The Peachtree Road Race will replace another race scheduled for that day that will be canceled, the Invesco QQQ Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon, 5K, Mile and Dash.

More than 45,000 people had registered for the race already, according to the press release. They will remain registered. According to the press release, registrants will also have the option to complete the race “virtually”; move their entry to 2021 at no charge; transfer to a new participant; donate their registration fee to Atlanta Track Club’s community initiatives; or receive a refund.

Registration will reopen on Aug. 31-Sept. 6 for members and Sept. 7-13 for non-members.

The Track Club will seek to do something “special” on July 4 without the race, according to its website.

For more information, see the Track Club’s website here.

The post Peachtree Road Race postponed until Thanksgiving Day due to COVID-19 appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

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In a video statement, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he would allow the shelter-in-place order for most Georgians to expire tonight, April 30, at 11:59 p.m.

Kemp said he would sign an order today requiring medically fragile and elderly Georgians to continue to shelter-in-place through June 12 and would extend the public health state of emergency to the same date.

“Tonight at 11:59 PM, the statewide shelter in place order for most Georgians will expire. However, moving forward, I am urging Georgians to continue to stay home whenever possible,” said in the video and accompanying statement released to the media.  “I want to thank the people of our great state who heeded public health advice, afforded us time to bolster our healthcare infrastructure, and flattened the curve. We were successful in these efforts, but the fight is far from over.”

Kemp’s statement comes as confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 continue to tick up, with the state surpassing 26,000 confirmed cases and more than 1,000 deaths.

Kemp said his decision was “based on data and advice from health officials.”

He said businesses and restaurants that have been allowed to reopen must continue to follow the social distancing and sanitation rules set by the state until May 13.

However, Kemp did not make any announcement about when bars, nightclubs, live music venues, amusement parks or public swimming pools could reopen.

Kemp also ordered long-term care facilities – including nursing homes, personal care homes, assisted living facilities, and similar community living homes – to utilize enhanced infection control protocols, ensure safer living conditions, and protect residents and staff from coronavirus exposure.

Georgia is projected to see its number of daily COVID-19 deaths nearly double by early August, according to an updated model from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The projections for Georgia show the highest uptick in deaths per day will be between May and August.

The post VIDEO: Gov. Kemp will allow shelter-in-place order to expire tonight for most Georgians appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is preparing the city’s response if Gov. Brian Kemp lets a statewide shelter-in-place order expire at 11:59 p.m. tonight, April 30.

While the mayor was briefing the Atlanta City Council via conference call just before noon, the Georgia Department of Public Health released new statistics showing that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has ticked up to 26,033 and the death toll stands at 1,107.

The mayor has become a regular presence on local and national newscasts urging people to stay at home and pushing back against Kemp’s decision to allow businesses and restaurants to begin reopening.

Bottoms said she met virtually with her COVID-19 advisory committee this morning to plan “adjustments” to the city’s response to the pandemic. The mayor said she has limited power to countermand Kemp’s orders to start reopening businesses, but said city hall and other city offices would remain closed until further notice.

Bottoms said she shared her concerns with Simon Property Group about their decision to reopen Phipps Plaza and Lenox Square on May 1. “I told them it was too soon, but they are committed to making sure they are doing all they can to keep customer’s safe.”

The mayor said she was encouraged that most of the city’s restaurant dining rooms remain closed, including the majority that sit along the Atlanta BeltLine.

Councilman Michael Julian Bond once again raised concerns about the number of people using the BeltLine trails and gathering in Piedmont Park. “People are not social distancing at all in Piedmont Park and there are crowds on the BeltLine,” Bond said. ” When will it be enough for you take action?”

Bottoms responded that she was balancing the need for people to use the BeltLine for exercise and as a transportation corridor. She said that usage of parks and the BeltLine were being monitored daily and she was following recommendations from the city’s health officials.

Bottoms said a COVID-19 survey sent to city residents to get feedback and input on best practices has seen “a much higher response than anticipated.”  The survey can be answered by calling the city’s information line at (404) 546-0311 or online at the city’s pandemic response website, atlstrong.org.

The post As COVID-19 cases top 26k, mayor plans city’s response to expiration of state’s shelter-in-place order appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

During these days of COVID-19 uncertainty, small business owners are not alone.

Read more at GPB News

Over the last few weeks, the power of free enterprise has been on full display as companies around the world have shifted, planned, reprogrammed and adjusted to protect employees and customers across a very different economic landscape.  At the same time, we have witnessed small businesses and gig workers struggle in the economic aftermath of coronavirus. Thankfully, government leaders at the local, state and federal levels moved swiftly to enact major legislation saving thousands of U.S. companies, their employees and families. Though the road ahead will be difficult, the combined forces of a democratic republic and free enterprise will overcome. 

During this time, I have heard the drumbeat of an old tune grow louder. Extremists want to argue that since the government offered loans to support some businesses, this action somehow translates into a failure of the free market; a crisis of no business making. However, the restrictions imposed on business and the public by governments around the world to protect their citizens does not mean that capitalism has failed or was at fault. In fact, quite the opposite is true. 

When the western world was attacked by this pandemic, it immediately turned to the free market for help. And, just like that, businesses stopped their normal operations, focused on the problem at-hand and delivered solutions to fight a common enemy that threatened the very life of mankind. Just as industry in the U.S. turned from making cars to manufacturing tanks in World War II, the power of the free market has, once again, taken problem-solving to completely new levels of innovation. 

Around the world, large and small companies alike have done what they do best. Innovative workers adapted to disruption, leveraged knowledge and ingenuity, and harnessed the power of talent and skill to marshal resources for attacking the problem. Government asked for more and better effective testing, and bioscience companies responded. Government asked for more personal protection equipment, and manufacturing responded. Government asked for businesses to protect employees and customers, and we all responded. Government asked for ideas to protect Americans, and again, the business community responded. The forces of free enterprise have risen to the challenge and found solutions, flattened the curve and saved lives. And while business has been doing its job to innovate and provide, government has bravely protected and defended our families, workers and front-line companies. Socialism – or even social democracy – would have fallen far short. 

Here, in Georgia, we have seen the same response. At every call from Governor Kemp, the free market responded and with little thought to its own bottom line. Though there are many stories, here are a few companies that have risen to the challenge of protecting employees, clients, customers and the general public by fighting COVID-19 in very strategically innovative ways:

• Abbott Laboratories, in Alpharetta, is a medical device and healthcare company that launched a compact test which can detect COVID-19 in as a little as five minutes.

• Anheuser-Busch, in Cartersville, is using its supply and logistics network to produce and distribute hand sanitizer to communities across the U.S. through the Red Cross.

• In like manner, Pretoria Fields, a craft brewery in Albany, made and delivered over 200 bottles of alcohol-based sanitizer to public safety professionals and first-responders.

• Uber, a transportation network, has activated several of its partners to support the relocation of domestic violence victims to safety during this pandemic.

• UPS is providing unprecedented resources to transport testing kits, personal protection equipment (PPE) and medical devices in support of public safety, virus diagnosis and therapy for COVID-19.

• KIA Motors, in West Point, has shifted from making cars to producing face shields for frontline healthcare workers. In one month, the plant can produce approximately 200,000 face shields.

• American Textile Company in Tifton has transitioned to manufacturing thousands of face masks to meet the ever-growing demand due to COVID-19. 

•  Anthem Health has offered its members free screening and testing services, is waiving cost shares for COVID-19 treatment, and is offering telephonic services to deliver quality healthcare directly into the homes of Georgians.

• Hospitals of all sizes across the state are leading the day-to-day life and death fight against this powerful enemy.

• Banks, financial services and credit unions, both small and large, are answering government’s call with readied staff to process and deliver application approvals of stimulus loans like PPP and EIDL, essential to small business survival.

• Local restaurants and food-service establishments have stepped up to the plate to provide meals for frontline workers.

And when President Trump needed advisors to help restore the economy, he turned to Georgia. Georgia-headquartered companies Chick-Fil-A, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Southern Company, UPS and Waffle House as well as dozens of other companies with Georgia operations are partnering with all members of Georgia’s Congressional Delegation to further the response and recovery. 

For a century, the Georgia Chamber and local chambers across the state have been fighting for the future of free enterprise because we know that it is tied directly to democratic governance, economic mobility and enhanced prosperity for all Georgians. The New Georgia Economy will see a prioritization on sustainability, resiliency, innovation and wellness. At this time in our history, we require a unique partnership between government and business and in doing so, we will move from pandemic to prosperity in a new way for a truly better Georgia.

Healthy living starts at home. That is why McKinley Homes, the developer of Seven88 West Midtown condominiums, has included features to keep future residents happy, healthy and safe. Seven88 West Midtown has put measures in place to keep the residents’ health and wellness at the forefront of everyday living with features in both the common areas and in each individual home.

“In light of our current situation, we know that healthy living is more important than ever before,” said John Jones, developer of Seven88 West Midtown. “As a builder, we have the unique opportunity to provide homeowners with a space that is inherently designed to promote health and wellness, an invaluable trait in a new home.”

Common Spaces

Residents can use a keyless touch feature from the time they enter the garage until they reach their own front door thanks to keyless entry points and a no-contact elevator. The resident access card can be scanned to open the exterior doors and the elevator door, and it then automatically sends them to the floor where they live. In addition, there are touchless lighting and temperature controls in the common areas, which help slow down the spread of germs in high-contact areas.

Each common area, including the elevator lobbies, main lobby, and gym, has its own Purell hand sanitizer dispenser. Frequent cleaning of the many common areas, as well as regular sanitization of the trash areas, is included in the HOA fee.

At Seven88 West Midtown, residents can enjoy socially distant, small gatherings thanks to the building’s large outdoor space. Segmented seating and semi-private gathering spaces are located throughout the outdoor deck, allowing for multiple small gatherings to remain outside at the same time while staying separated.

Finally, residents have access to a dedicated area for food and package deliveries to be picked up or dropped off without having to meet people face-to-face.

Residences

Seven88 West Midtown is inherently healthier than the average home thanks to its full glass exterior that allows in more natural sunlight. Ultraviolet (UV) rays from the natural sunlight have been proven to kill bacteria and viruses, helping to control the spread of germs within the homes.

Each home has its own fresh air intake and exhaust. Unlike older buildings that circulate air by the floor or the entire building, Seven88 West Midtown’s air circulates only within each individual condo, much like a single-family home.

Finally, residences include private balconies that allow access to personal outdoor living space, giving homeowners the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors while staying socially distant from others.