Canceled event impacts local economy

ESCANABA -- After a FIRST Robotics District Event that was set to take place at Escanaba Area High School today and Saturday was postponed indefinitely, representatives of local businesses spoke about the situation's economic impact.

On Wednesday, FIRST in Michigan announced its decision to postpone all of its upcoming district events -- including the event in Escanaba, which was scheduled for Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14 -- until further notice. The decision was made in response to concerns about the coronavirus.

Delta County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Vickie Micheau said the chamber and its members had been eagerly anticipating the district event.

"We understand it, but we are certainly disappointed that this important event won't take place," she said of FIRST in Michigan's decision.

She thanked local businesses and volunteers for the hard work and donations they had already contributed to the event.

"What we're most happy about was the level of support the community was willing to give to help make this event successful," Micheau said.

Hotels in the area were among the businesses most heavily affected by the postponing of the district event, as FIRST Robotics teams and family members were set to travel to Escanaba from outside of the area to participate. Micheau noted the event would have given these hotels a spike in business at a time of year that can be relatively slow.

"(That) was certainly going to be a boost for their bottom line," she said.

Among the local hotels dealing with room cancellations is Quality Inn & Suites in Escanaba.

"Over a two-day period, it's going to be about 50-55 rooms," General Manager Andrew Rasch said of the rooms canceled at the hotel.

The hotel has a total of 116 active rooms. As a result of the district event's postponement, Rasch said he expects Quality Inn & Suites to lose almost $5,000 in room revenue alone.

Additionally, Quality Inn & Suites had been preparing for a busy weekend by ordering extra supplies and scheduling additional staff. The hotel had a choice to make when the district event was postponed: cut its employees' hours, resulting in them losing wages, or keep them on and eat the loss itself.

Ultimately, the latter option was chosen.

"We're not going to let our people go without getting paid," Rasch said.

Merrie Bea Stankowicz, owner and manager of the Magnuson Grand Pioneer Inn and Suites in Escanaba, said a "couple good-sized teams" were set to stay at her hotel before the district event was postponed. Between participating students, parents, judges and volunteers, about 30 rooms had been booked at the hotel Friday and Saturday for the event.

This would not have been the first time robotics teams had stayed at the hotel, Stankowicz said.

"They like coming here -- they always come back," she said.

Housekeepers that were set to work at the Magnuson Grand this weekend will have a choice between either not coming in or coming in and working on thorough cleaning of the hotel's rooms.

"The ones that want to work can come in and do the deep cleaning," Stankowicz said.

While the postponement of the district event was a disappointment, Stankowicz said she understood why it was necessary.

"You wouldn't want to jeopardize all those kids," she said.

Restaurants, gas stations and other businesses positively affected by tourism were also impacted by the district event's postponement. Andy Fields, general manager of Hudson's Classic Grill, said the restaurant has historically done well during district events.

"In the past, we've had great turnout -- it's always a busy weekend for us," he said.

He expected the same to be true of the district event that was scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

Fields said Hudson's is not planning to cut its employees' hours over the weekend. He noted the winter of 2019-20 has been a very good winter for the restaurant -- due in part to recent activity at the nearby Delta Plaza Mall -- and that business at Hudson's has not yet been affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

"Locally, we have not seen any decline so far from anything," he said.

On the other hand, Joe Crispigna, founder and assistant manager of Crispigna's Restaurant, did not feel the district event would have had much of a direct impact on business at Crispigna's.

"I don't think a dinner club like ours is that affected by it," he said, adding that he believed chain restaurants and fast-food eateries were more heavily hit by the event's cancellation.

That said, he noted large events that bring people to Delta County -- including the district event -- help boost the entire community's economy.

"There's a ripple-down effect," Crispigna said.

Aside from the financial concerns created by the district event's postponement, Rasch said he felt sad for the robotics students that will not have a chance to take part in the event.

"Those kids work so darn hard to make this happen," he said.

He did not believe this will be the last local event impacted by coronavirus in 2020, however.

"I expect this year we're going to see a lot of this," Rasch said.

Micheau said she is excited for FIRST Robotics events to come back to Escanaba in the future.

"We look forward to working with schools and organizations to see a return of the robotics event in 2021," she said.