text: #WindsorStrong: Facing COVID-19 restrictions, Windsor restaurant owners remain optimistic – Greeley Tribune
  #WindsorStrong: Facing COVID-19 restrictions,…
  #WindsorStrong: Facing COVID-19 restrictions, Windsor restaurant owners remain optimistic
  PUBLISHED: April 7, 2020 at 12:45 a.m. | UPDATED: May 28, 2020 at 7:16 a.m.
  During a time in which hope is at a premium for smallbusinesses, Mick Occhiato isn't giving up his.
  One of the other Windsor restaurant owners that shares abuilding with Occhiato, Tim Downey, also isn't losing hope.
  In the face of a gloomy and uncertain economic environmentcreated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Occhiato and Downey have kept their heads up.
  Call them optimists if you like. Just don't call them blindoptimists. They have reason for their positive outlooks during these diretimes.
  Occhiato is the owner of an Italian restaurant, Cacciatoreat Heller's Kitchen, in the recently revitalized historic Windsor Millbuilding, 301 Main St.
  Downey is one of the co-owners of the Windsor Mill Tavern.
  Okole Maluna is one of many restaurants offering only takeout and delivery downtown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Windsor Friday, April 3, 2020. (Alex McIntyre/amcintyre@greeleytribune.com)
  Both dining and drinking establishments opened just a handful of months ago, in October, on Main Street — an area that has seen a resurgence in recent years with new restaurants, pubs and shops.
  Occhiato and Downey said their restaurants had really begun to gain momentum and a solid footing in their new markets in recent months. But restrictions put in place by Gov. Jared Polis in mid-March to help limit the spread of COVID-19 prohibited restaurants and bars from allowing dine-in service, restricting them to take-out and delivery.
  This likely essential measure has increased public safetybut has also created a tense, uncertain environment for small businesses andtheir owners, who operate without the millions of dollars of financial cushionlarge, national chains have.
  The restrictions have also created uncertainty for theresurging Windsor Main Street itself, threatening to undo much of the progressthe area has enjoyed in recent years.
  Fortunately for Downey, Occhiato and the dozens of otherproprietors in the rapidly growing town of 30,000-plus, the town government hasstepped in to ease some of the intense financial burden that these smallbusinesses are trying to endure.
  The town of Windsor has initiated a plan to defer sales taxpayments for five months, including a choice for February — retroactively — forsmall businesses.
  "We really feel that (town officials) care and they want tohelp us," Occhiato said. "They listened to several small-business restaurantowners in Windsor, and they were on it immediately. The support has been reallygood. … I feel really good about it. This week is kind of a reversal of how Ifelt the week before."
  Cacciatore's executive chef Troy Heller had been followingthe news about COVID-19 well before Gov. Polis placed restrictions on dining inrestaurants. Heller was proactive, designing a take-and-bake menu therestaurant was able to implement as soon as dining in became prohibited.
  This has allowed Cacciatore's to mitigate at least some of thefinancial toll this virus has taken.
  Also, Blue Ocean Enterprises — Cacciatore's and the WindsorMill Tavern's landlord — has helped by deferring its tenants' rent and commonarea maintenance expenses for three months.
  "That's really what people need — just a little bit of abreak to keep some cash flow going, to be able to ride this out," Downey said.
  In addition, the United States Treasury has made availablemoney to assist small businesses through a pair of loans, administered throughthe Small Business Administration: the Paycheck Protection Program and the EconomicInjury Disaster Loan.
  The Paycheck Protection Program is a $349 billion program that will loan money to small businesses owners to help them maintain their employees or rehire employees they've laid off.
  Chimney Park Restaurant & Bar stands closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in downtown Windsor Friday, April 3, 2020. (Alex McIntyre/amcintyre@greeleytribune.com)
  The SBA will forgive the portion of the loan proceeds that are used to cover the first eight weeks of payroll costs, rent, utilities and mortgage interest. Businesses could receive loan money significantly sooner than they would a typical loan through an insurance company.
  Downey and Occhiato have had to lay off almost their entirestaffs as they operate with a skeleton crew that prepares takeout and delivery orders.
  The Economic Injury Disaster Loan allows small businesses — 500 or fewer employees — impacted by COVID-19 to apply for loans up to $2 million. The low-interest loan waives collateral, upfront fees and early payment penalties.
  The East Colorado Small Business Development Center is helping businesses in the area apply for these loans.
  Lisa Hudson, the director of the East Colorado SBDC, saidnormally she and her staff don't advise small business owners to seek financialrelief by going into debt. But, in this case, the SBA's loans could be anecessary tool for businesses striving to stay afloat — particularly theportions of the Paycheck Protection Program loans that are forgiven.
  "Typically, I wouldn't necessary advise small businesses toconsider debt as an answer," Hudson said. "But, given the times that we're in,I think that this could be a short-term solution."
  Downey said the toughest meeting he has had in his life iswhen he recently told his 34 employees they no longer had jobs.
  However, the path to recovering and, hopefully, restoringnormalcy has begun for Downey and other business owners in Windsor.
  The Windsor Mill Tavern has been relying heavily on loyalcustomers to place takeout and delivery orders, as well as purchase gift cards.Downey said he has even sold gift cards to supportive customers in other partsof the country.
  "Customers and guests are our lifeline, even when our doorsare open," he said. "When they place an order, it just makes you smile and youwant to do the best you can for them."
  Okole Maluna Hawaiian Grill, 431 Main St., was one of thepioneers of downtown Windsor's resurgence. It opened its doors in 2004 and hasdone steady business since then, providing northern Colorado dining enthusiastsa taste of authentic Hawaiian cuisine rarely found in this region.
  The restaurant is owned by husband and wife native HawaiiansAndrew and Juliet Higa. The couple has seen Windsor's restaurant and businesssector develop at a pace tantamount with how the town itself has rapidly grownin recent years.
  Even though the Higas haven't had to lay off their staffslike Occhiato and Downey have, they've faced all the same challenges duringthis difficult time.
  They have also seen many of the small businesses in Windsorcome together and form a fraternity of support during this pandemic.
  Because of such camaraderie — accompanied by the supportfrom customers and the town — Andrew Higa said he's confident Windsor's growingcommunity of small businesses will survive this tough economic time andcontinue to move forward at a rate similar to that of recent years.
  "This is the toughest time that I can ever rememberoperating as an independent business owner," he said. "But I'm also curious andhopeful to see the resolve that comes out of something this tough. … Sometimeswe get pushed to the limit, but from that spurs a lot of great things."
  Okole Maluna is offering only takeout and delivery in downtown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Windsor Friday, April 3, 2020. (Alex McIntyre/amcintyre@greeleytribune.com)
  That sense of optimism is permeating throughout Windsor's small business community, even in likely its darkest and most uncertain hour.
  "I'm feeling very positive we're going to look back and say, 'We made it through this, and we're going to come back and pick up where we left off,' " Occhiato said. "It's going to take us a couple months, but we're looking forward to staying open and in business and continuing to serve Windsor."