Here’s how San Francisco North Bay businesses are tackling the omicron threat

Facing a rapidly spreading omicron virus, some North Bay businesses are temporarily closing offices or reducing hours, modifying services or reassigning healthy personnel to cover absences in other offices.

“With growing numbers of employees ill at some of our 16 West Coast locations in nine counties, we decided to take a conservative approach and close a few of these offices for a week or longer in January,” said Greg Hurd, CEO of BKF Engineering. The Redwood City-based firm, which has a Santa Rosa office, provides civil engineering, surveying and land-planning services for architects, commercial and residential developers, as well as colleges and universities. BKF, in business since 1915, has 450 employees in Northern California.

Hurd said BKF is not shutting down completely and is serving its clients with staff members working remotely and others from different offices without COVID being assigned to support clients and conduct on-site services.

“We kept a close eye on the rise in COVID cases during the holidays and found as many as 25 staff members were present in a few of these offices before Christmas, but recently there were only three,” Hurd said.

While BKF can perform most of its services remotely, Hurd noted that it is difficult to mentor young staff members and collaborate with them when not working closely together.

The county also cited this omicron surge on Monday when it issued a 30-day order that limits indoor and outdoor gatherings for the next 30 days. It said that large gatherings does not include attendance at work.

Meanwhile, the omicron variant has put another layer of stress onto companies, but this time, the operational challenges seem to be short-lived, according to Craig Smith, executive director of the Downtown Napa Association, comprised largely of retailers, hotels and restaurants.

“What we've discovered with this (omicron variant) is that when it hits a business, it just blows right through it,” Smith said. “It may hit all or most of the staff and (businesses) are heavily impacted by it. But then within a week, it's all fine.”

The fast onset and quick recovery time has resulted in a number of businesses preferring to stay under the radar while they get through the wave of infections, Smith said. In fact, the Business Journal reached out to dozens of businesses throughout the North Bay and received little response.

“COVID has sort of become the new C-word, and it scares people,” Smith said, referring to cancer. “So, I think businesses are reluctant to say something about an issue that no longer exists for them.”

What does continue to exist, and is further contributing to staffing shortages during this omicron wave, is a scarcity in testing supplies, which forced Russian River Brewing Co. to temporarily shutter both its Santa Rosa and Windsor locations at the end of last week, according to co-owner Natalie Cilurzo.

Cilurzo on Jan. 6 told The Press Democrat that the business has had 11 confirmed positive cases at both sites over the past few weeks, and that a number of employees were either awaiting the results of pending tests or were trying to schedule a test.

“It’s totally crippling business,” Cilurzo told the outlet.

Lagunitas Tap Room and Brewery in Petaluma temporarily shut down last week, and is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday.

The business posted this on its website: “Customers: Please note that we will be closed until 1/12/22. A staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, so we’re shutting down temporarily out of an abundance of caution, taking the time to get all our staff tested and disinfecting the premises to keep everyone (our staff and customers) safe.”

In Marin County, Monk’s Kettle neighborhood tavern and bottle shop temporarily closed in the Terra Linda Shopping Center due to the high number of COVID cases in the area and the challenges that presents. Owners Christian Albertson and Nat Cutler teamed with Jeff and Allison Jordan, owners of Giordano Brothers, to open the original Monk’s Kettle in San Francisco and later in Marin County.

“Our intent is always to provide a safe and welcoming gathering place for the community. The mask-less nature of dining (especially indoor dining) precludes the assurance of safety for our guests and staff, and so we have decided to close until this wave has passed,” the owners said in an online statement. “Our expectation is that we will reopen our doors in March, depending upon the current conditions. Our S.F. Mission location has closed indoor dining. There, we are continuing outdoor dining — with lighted, heated parklets — and takeout, delivery. We will provide updates as we know more.”

Omicron’s wrath hasn’t been discerning among industries.

Alaska Airlines, the primary commercial air carrier servicing Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, on Jan. 6 announced it would reduce departures by about 10% through the end of the month. Alaska stated that “the continued impacts of omicron have been disruptive in all our lives and unprecedented employee sick calls have impacted our ability to operate our airline reliably.”

The cutbacks include the Sonoma County facility.

“Schedule changes will take place across the network,” Cailee Olson, media relations manager for the airline, confirmed in an email statement.

National retailers such as Macy’s, Starbucks and Walgreens, among others, have responded to the growing number of sick, exposed or overworked staffing challenges by either temporarily closing some locations or shortening operating hours, according to a report from CNBC.

The Sacramento-based California Retailers Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the retail industry, told the Business Journal the latest wave of COVID-19 has piled onto the industry’s existing challenges.

“The recent omicron surge and ongoing pandemic is just one more thing the California Retailers Association is taking into consideration as we look for more ways to push funding for smaller businesses and retailers to keep them afloat,” Rachel Michelin, president, said in an email. “It’s a challenge; we already had some staffing shortages prior to this latest variant, and now this is another frustration.”


Cheryl Sarfaty is a Business Journal staff writer. Gary Quackenbush is a special correspondent.

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