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The COVID-19 pandemic isn't over yet, but it's clear La Quinta has come through the event quite well, an official with the city's chamber said during a recent interview.
"La Quinta has shown resiliency unlike anything I have seen in surviving the course of the pandemic and state lockdown," La Quinta Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Elisa Guerrero. "We managed to not only limit the losses of businesses severely affected by COVID-19, but we’ve actually experienced growth among our business population with new large and small operations opening in the city."
It's also not too early to start planning for the after time, Guerrero said.
"In the next year, I am looking forward to moving out of the tier system and fully reopening our city and county for normal daily life," she said. "I am grateful the vaccines for COVID-19 have been generally well-received by the public and we are moving toward widespread immunity. We have a large demographic spread in our city and the valley at large, and public health is a major concern, especially in La Quinta. The city considers one of its core values to be promoting a healthy way of life."
La Quinta Chamber of Commerce has been helping area businesses with free Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), locating and accessing grants and other funding and other efforts aimed at keeping the local economy thriving through very difficult times.
Earlier this month, the City of La Quinta again urged locals to shop local and to support area businesses.
"Let's celebrate side hustles that became main hustles, dreamers that became doers, maxed out credit cards that became thriving businesses, big fails that became big wins and individuals with ideas that became teams with visions," the city said in a Facebook post on March 22. "Let's support our local shops and small business community."
On March 11, La Quinta Chamber of Commerce welcomed a new Starbucks in La Quinta Cove, at Washington and Tampico, and business in general has done well, all things considered, during the pandemic.
"Our city officials have been fiscally conservative even before the pandemic, which provided an incredibly effective safety net for our community," Guerrero said.
News in the housing sector has been good as well.
"Our housing market has experienced a major boom, specifically in La Quinta, with new residents relocating from more urban areas, adding to our growth," Guerrero said. "We are seeing new housing developments coming before our planning commission for approval and a revamping of low-income housing projects throughout the city."
The time seems arriving soon to begin planning for events La Quinta has done without to slow spread of COVID-19.
"When the pandemic lockdowns began, the first event we lost was the annual La Quinta Art Celebration, and it has finally been rescheduled to take place in November this year," Guerrero said. "We are very much looking forward to kicking off our 2021-2022 season with this much-missed event."
