Some relied on government funding to get through.

In other cases, employees pitched in, volunteering their time instead of taking a paycheck.

Others switched gears entirely, revamping their business plan.

Whatever the means, local businesses found a way to survive months fraught with government-mandated shutdowns, capacity restrictions and headaches brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Some have come back even better than before.

Bish Tool & Die in Jeannette lost about 80% of its business when its main customer wasn’t able to be open during shutdowns between March and June 2020, according to owner Paul Bish. Smaller customers and coronavirus relief money helped pull the manufacturing operation through.

“Things are picking up for us. though. We are getting new customers,” he said.

Greensburg’s 60 Minute Missions Escape Room capitalized on customers’ increasing interest in social activities after lockdowns and distancing rules in 2020. As those guidelines relaxed, fun-seekers are coming out in droves, said co-owner Vandye Nelson.

“People are dying to get out and do something,” she said. “We are very lucky to have rebounded in a positive way.”

Many local business owners found themselves locking their doors in mid-March 2020 as state officials ordered shutdowns in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. They didn’t have any inkling that what was initially billed as a two-week closure would continue, for some, for nearly three months.

That left many wondering how to pay bills and keep serving customers, some of whom were under stay-at-home orders, as the world turned upside down. Funding through coronavirus relief bills was directed to hundreds of Westmoreland County businesses and restaurants in an effort to keep them afloat. For some, that money, combined with paycheck protection program loans, helped keep them afloat while they navigated the social distancing and masking requirements for employees and customers.

Bish was grateful for the funds. He said his shop got about $80,000 total.

“We were in a jam last year. We had to lay everybody off but one person,” he said. “I appreciate what the government was able to do for us.”

Bish and his son spent those two weeks repairing and performing maintenance on machines. As the work started to trickle back in, employees came back to a different work environment — sanitizer, disinfectant and a lunch room open to one at a time. Masks weren’t always needed because of space between the machines, plus the workspace can get hot.

“We tried to comply within reason,” he said.

It was also a different shopping environment at grocery stores around the region that stayed open through it all. Tom Charley, co-owner of Charley Family Shop ‘n Save stores in Murrysville, Hempfield and Greensburg, said a separate department was created specifically for cleaning.

“We had someone on staff for every hour for 12 hours sanitizing our whole store,” he said.

All the barriers, masks and floor stickers dictating how far apart customers should stand soon became commonplace. The stores, as of last month, no longer require employees and customers who are fully vaccinated to wear a face covering, in accordance with federal guidelines.

“It’s been a stressful situation no doubt about it, but our team was awesome,” Charley said.

Also in deserve of praise are employees at the Aerobic Center in Greensburg, according to assistant manager Roman Carloni. The gym was forced to close from March until June 2020, and again in December, and received relief and paycheck protection funding.

Some employees decided to volunteer their time, rather than take a paycheck. That was quite the surprise, Carloni said. There are three full-timers and about 50 employees who work part-time.

“We’re very lucky that most of our staff had been here for a good bit of years,” he said. “We’re very lucky to have the people that we have here.”

Members younger than 65 came back almost immediately after the shutdown lifted in June 2020, he said. Older adults have started showing up to exercise more recently now that vaccinations have been rising and cases decreasing.

“Within the last month, that has grown exponentially,” he said at the end of May.

A second 60 Minute Missions Escape Room location opened in September in Murrysville, five months after the original plan.

Nelson said about $30,000 in relief and paycheck funding helped pull the business through and got them started paying employees once the shutdowns were lifted.

“We did not have to dip into any reserve,” she said.

The businesses are staffed by part-timers, typically students, and revenue in 2020 was about half of the total in 2019. With that reserve fund still intact, the business is in a pretty good position as interest in getting out of the house continues to grow.

“We believe that we are a success story coming out of it,” Nelson said. “We had the hurdle of being shut down, but we didn’t have a long bounce back time.”

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