The arrival of COVID-19, or coronavirus, in Montana has already started to impact businesses around the Flathead Valley. Quarantine fears have driven large crowds to retail stores, while social distancing has reduced the number of people at bars and restaurants.

“It’s really moving so quickly,” Kalispell Chamber of Commerce President Joe Unterreiner said.

On March 4, the Chamber sent out their “Coronavirus Action Plan” by email to 5,000 business owners and managers throughout the Flathead Valley. The plan was developed through recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to help businesses implement safe practices and sustain business operations throughout the duration of the pandemic.

“Be prudent, be prepared, but don’t overreact,” the Kalispell Coronavirus Action Plan advises. “This largely means business as usual with some limited exceptions.”

The action plan is available here: https://kalispellchamber.com/initiatives/coronavirus-action-plan/

It includes links to CDC and U.S. Chamber of Commerce guidelines for employers and workers. The “guidance for employers” suggests determining whether employees can work remotely, deciding how to handle spikes in absenteeism and establishing an employee communications plan. The U.S. Chamber’s online “Resilience in a Box” toolkit also includes resources such as worksheets that outline a chain of command for when an employee is out sick or out of the office.

The Chamber is also developing landing pages for the Kalispell Chamber website to educate business owners, visitors and hoteliers about the virus locally. Moving forward, the Chamber will use its website to post business announcements related to COVID-19 as well.

Even with these resources, Evergreen Chamber of Commerce Director Connie McCubbins said local business owners “are concerned.”

Businesses from large retail chains to small, family-owned establishments are limiting hours and services, and in some cases temporarily closing, in response to the virus.

Spotted Bear Spirits in Whitefish closed its tasting room Monday, “for the health and safety of our staff and community,” the local distillery announced on its Facebook page.

At Jersey Boys Pizza in Whitefish, the dining room closed Tuesday (today) and the pizzeria is moving to all-day delivery services and curb-side pickup. The business will double delivery services and take all payments over the phone through a debit or credit card. But an email warned, “please be patient, as we anticipate an influx in delivery orders.”

REI in Kalispell temporarily closed Monday as the international chain shut the doors at its 162 locations nationwide.

Elsewhere in the valley, however, the business response has not been quite so immediate or severe. Retailers such as Sportsman & Ski Haus and JCPenney in Kalispell said they had not made any changes to their hours as of Monday. Bars and restaurants including Moose’s Saloon, Montana Coffee Traders and Backslope Brewery also said they had not yet decided to change their hours or services.

Although many businesses are continuing business as usual, many small business owners related difficulties as a result of the coronavirus threat.

Meredith Hanson, the owner of Tailing Loop Winery in Evergreen, asked for the community’s continued support in a Facebook post on Friday. “The winery is a 100% service-based business, and without people walking in the door, it won’t survive,” she wrote.

She added, “I will begin offering specials that include Bottle Sales, Gift Certificates and Merchandise. I implore you to please consider purchasing these items in the upcoming weeks to give me a buffer to weather the dry spell.”

Sherry Toavs, who opened the Porteus BBQ restaurant in Bigfork in October, shared this outlook.

“We’re doing what we can,” Toavs said. “We’re really worried about disappointing our following…We pride ourselves on being the only Bigfork business open seven days a week.”

But as fewer people are eating out at restaurants and the valley is seeing a decrease in out-of-town visitors, Toavs said they might have to reduce their staff, limit their service to takeout orders or possibly close for a few weeks.

“We’re not throwing in the towel,” Toavs insisted. “But we can only bleed for so long.”

So far, she said they’ve been maintaining their business operations. Right now, Toavs said, “We’re not concerned about making a profit. We’re trying to cover food costs and our employees.”

But Toavs was worried about how future developments could cripple the business, from travel bans that could keep them from bringing in a new smoker from Arizona, to cancellations of weddings and concessions events throughout the summer.

As she discussed the outlook for the business, Toavs she said she’s grateful for the community’s support and for her husband’s second job in construction. “It’s a good thing my husband builds houses,” she added.

One of the only area businesses seeing an upside from the pandemic is grocery stores, where business is booming as customers stock up to prepare for the possibility of being quarantined. Over the weekend, swarms of customers descended on grocery stores and cleared many shelves of items like pasta and toilet paper.

Between the customer influx and the need to keep these common spaces clean, many grocery stores in the valley have limited their hours and imposed restrictions on the amount of groceries each customer can buy.

Smith’s Food and Drug temporarily has reduced its store hours to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. In Kalispell, a handwritten sign on the front door read Monday afternoon stated “we are temporarily out of toilet paper, sorry.”

At Natural Grocers, a sign announced: “We will be closing at 7:30 p.m. at all stores. This is to help us better serve our community in allowing time for disinfecting and stocking all areas of our store.”

Super 1 Foods in Kalispell curtailed its hours to 5 a.m. to midnight; Rosauers reduced its hours to 7 a.m. through 8 p.m. and Walmart changed its hours to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Many business owners said their hours and services could also change in the coming days as the pandemic situation in the valley evolves.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.