Northern California business voices of the pandemic: Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau

THE NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL

March 22, 2022

2 years later: COVID’s impact on the North Bay economy

Sonoma and Solano counties: Different COVID approaches but similar outcomes

Sonoma has been among the California counties with the most proactive public health measures in the past two years, while Solano County has resisted measures.

How has each industry been faring?

Beyond the human toll, the pandemic, public policy responses to it and consumer reactions have had impacts on employers that vary by industry. We talked to players in several sectors, and here’s what they told us.

Voices of local business

Here are the personal stories of how North Bay leaders have steered their organizations through the past two years. What has changed? What were their worst fears, and how did they face them?

Tim Zahner, executive director of Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau, talks with the Business Journal about his professional challenges and fears from the coronavirus pandemic.

How have the past two years changed you, personally and professionally?

I think I'm becoming more unflappable in some regards. Things that used to be out of the realm of possibility don't seem to faze me as much. We've been through the worldwide pandemic but also a few more fire evacuations and power safety shut-offs. I don't know if that's normal in a two-year span, but I've learned to roll with it.

I'm thankful that I have very good partners — from my staff to my board to the general community — to get us all through this. Sonoma Valley really stepped up in helping each other.

What was your worst fear, and did it materialize?

I guess my worst, worst fear is that my daughter — who is immunocompromised — would get sick. I'm thankful that we were all able to get vaccines. My wife got COVID from work early on (she's in health care) and that was scary. As a family, we have been very fortunate.

Beyond my family, I feared that we all — as a society — wouldn't let the "better angels of our nature" guide our actions and do the right thing for each other. It was hard to see neighbors angry at neighbors and the vitriol that seemed to derive from fear and worry, when we perhaps could have done a better job at directing our energies at helping each other.