KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Quality Machine and Welding Company owner Jeff Roth is waiting to feel the full effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on his business.
Roth sat down with Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs for an interview as part of the mayor’s latest video series highlighting small businesses.
Mayor Jacobs has conducted interviews with small business owners and operators, providing them the opportunity to talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their families and employees and helping them share any plans they hold for the future.
“COVID put a hole in architect and engineer work and owners – when owners were making financial decisions on whether to processed with a project – they hit the brakes on it,” Roth said. “So, I think we will see it at our level six or eight months down the road.”
Roth added: “Anything that impacts our community is going to impact businesses and it’s going to have long-range impact. COVID is going to have long-range impacts on us, our employees and on society.”
Roth said even before the pandemic the labor market was tough. He works in a tech program that helps expose high school students to the trades hoping they will be interested in the trade once they graduate.
“We really are in a bind for labor,” Roth said.
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