Editor’s note: This is part of a series exploring how Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs and small businesses have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and their plans for moving forward.
Maker: Derek Skapes, owner
Business: Everarbor, a company providing outdoor tree, landscape and building services and producer of fertilizer and apparel
How has the outbreak impacted your business?
“We’ve been very fortunate, which we’re all grateful for, because we’ve been able to stay busy. We were able to go into a local school system where we serve as the consulting arboricultural firm. And because there were no cars in the parking lot and kids weren’t out walking around, we were able to go in and remove several of the unsafe, dead or declining trees. And then we came in with our machinery and manpower and everything, and with the addition of the Everbrew to the soil we were able to plant over 15 native new tree species in and around a couple parking lots there. When the kids come back they’ll be able to enjoy some new trees that aren’t unsafe.”
How will you look at things differently moving forward?
“Once this whole thing has kind of come to pass we might focus a little bit more on trying to source, more than we already do, as locally as possible. This situation has affected the local or small businesses more so than some of the large corporations. Maybe there’s some ways we can support locally even more, because it’s obviously very, very, very important.”
Talk about your personal experience during the pandemic.
“I try to stay positive. It seems like people are talking to each other a little bit more. They’re a little bit nicer. You know, I think it’s put a lot of things in perspective for people, where maybe we can take a step back from things. Almost like it was 60, 70 years ago. These essential jobs, the tradesmen, the nurses, the law enforcement, I’m leaving people out and I apologize, but things like that are a lot more important and we sometimes take it for granted and we’re not right now. And I think that that’s good. These jobs are not only essential, but they’re important and they should be valued and the people should be valued.”
