The Big Payout: In Colorado’s sparsely populated counties, federal COVID aid was used, but often with suspicion

Moffat County, in northwest Colorado’s excessive nation, and Cheyenne County, on the southeastern plains, present how the distribution and use of COVID-19 aid funds diverse as a lot because the state’s geography.

Roughly $63 billion in support from 22 main packages streamed into Colorado after the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020 and restrictions and shutdowns cascaded throughout the economic system.

The financial impacts in Moffat and Cheyenne had been completely different from communities alongside the Entrance Vary and even neighboring counties, the place tourism and snowboarding are massive enterprise and the financial shock waves first hit the toughest.

The Denver Submit’s evaluation of the billions in support and tens of hundreds in loans confirmed that Colorado’s rural counties, exterior the mountain resort counties, acquired considerably much less federal pandemic help, $7,202 per resident, than different areas. Resort counties, in contrast, acquired $11,652 per resident, whereas metro areas acquired  $9,574.

Each areas are rural, however Moffat, thirty fifth in inhabitants out of 64 counties, was simply 53rd in per capita funding at $6,832, or 39% beneath the state common, based on The Denver Submit’s evaluation. Cheyenne County, 59th in inhabitants, was seventh in per capita funding at $12,721, about 25% larger than the common per-resident quantity.

Regardless of the variations in funding, the counties confronted comparable challenges in conserving on high of the help accessible. They didn’t essentially have all of the assets that public businesses and companies had in additional populous components of the state.

“I do know there have been lots of people who had been actually pissed off with the (Paycheck Safety Program) as a result of it was complicated as as to whether you even certified,” stated Jennifer Holloway, govt director of the Craig Chamber of Commerce.

In Moffat and Cheyenne counties, companies deemed as important and allowed to maintain going throughout the pandemic — farming, ranching, coal mining, energy vegetation, oil and gasoline — are among the many cornerstone industries. Xcel Power’s 229-turbine, 500 megawatt Cheyenne Ridge wind farm straddles Package and Cheyenne counties.

Searching and fishing, which thrive on social distancing, are additionally massive attracts in each areas. Moffat County, with virtually 2 million acres of public land, is understood nationally for its elk and deer herds. Searching within the county generates about $12 million yearly, based on a report by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

“What’s good about rural is we’re extra open than the cities. Our six toes of social distancing may be very simple to determine,” stated Debbie Knudsen, the city clerk for Cheyenne Wells.

Companies in Cheyenne, Kiowa and Package Carson counties did effectively in acquiring PPP loans, however most rural counties, like Moffat, and particularly Costilla and Crowley, lagged behind. Past having a smaller focus of companies, rural areas additionally are inclined to have extra restricted banking assets, which made it tougher for debtors to navigate the bureaucratic maze and get the assistance they wanted.

Cheyenne County has a inhabitants of practically 1,750 folks and is 1,781 sq. miles in measurement, or about 1.1 million acres. Moffat County has a inhabitants of 13,283 and is 4,743 sq. miles, or roughly 3 million acres.

In some methods, the bigger distances and fewer folks allowed extra locals to assist one another, serving to the areas climate the pandemic, residents stated.

“All of us work collectively and assist one another,” Knudsen stated. “We assist our companies right here as a result of it’s vital.”

Nonetheless, native companies didn’t shut and cut back to the extent they did in different components of the state, Moffat County Commissioner Melody Villard stated. “We had been impacted, however I don’t suppose in the identical method as another areas of the state as a result of we’re sparsely populated.”

The companies and organizations that had been affected bought assist from locals who doubtless grew up with the enterprise house owners or know them from crossing paths in the identical neighborhood, she added.

“We rallied round neighboring companies and located methods to nonetheless assist them even when they weren’t in a position to be open,” Villard stated.

Nevertheless, because the county emerges from the pandemic’s financial fallout, one other disruption is looming that can have “a a lot greater affect for doubtlessly an extended time on our revenues,” Villard stated.

The three models of the Craig Station coal-fired energy plant and a mine that provides it is going to shut down over the following few years as utilities and the state attempt to meet objectives for cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions. The closures will have an effect on about 700 direct high-paying jobs and assist companies, on high of phasing out a serious supply of native property tax income.

Banking on neighborhood

Though Cheyenne County is one in all Colorado’s least populated counties, it acquired the third-highest quantity in cash per capita by means of the Paycheck Safety Program. Greg Weed, CEO of Cheyenne Wells-based Japanese Colorado Financial institution, stated his workers labored onerous on reaching out to space companies.

“We’re a small neighborhood financial institution. That’s what we do,” stated Weed, whose grandparents began the financial institution in 1944.

A considerable variety of the greater than 240 small PPP loans organized by space banks went to farms and ranches. “We tried actually onerous to see that nobody was missed,” Weed stated.

Extra space farmers and ranchers certified for the loans within the second spherical after the rules had been modified. The cash supplied farmers with the assistance they wanted throughout the worst a part of the pandemic, Weed added. The loans are forgiven if a majority of the cash is spent on payroll.

Two PPP loans of $11,747 every helped “tremendously,” stated Stan Wells, who owns OYO Lodge Cheyenne Wells on U.S. 40. Each the pandemic and the departure of some oil business staff led to a lull in enterprise.

The lodge, previously referred to as the Path Inn Motel, additionally serves as a home violence useful resource and psychological well being respite, Wells added. Whereas it’s been a wrestle to make ends meet, the lodge is now usually 75% full, with enterprise wanting up, he stated.

Mitchek Farms GP in Package Carson acquired a $12,641 mortgage in April 2020, with one other one for $21,250 taken out by Ervin Mitchek, who runs the enterprise with two kin, in February 2021. Daughter Debbie Mitchek, who works because the secretary, acknowledged that the cash was a assist, then summed up a sense prevalent within the closely Republican county: “None of us are massive authorities folks.”

The youthful Mitchek stated in a phone interview that she nonetheless believes “the federal government ought to have achieved none of it.”

Megan Wendt stated the PPP loans she and her husband, Derek, bought for his or her oilfield companies firm allowed them to maintain lots of their workers when demand plummeted. Nonetheless, Wendt, who additionally runs a cattle operation and a propane enterprise in Cheyenne Wells, stated she is a bit cautious of the “free” cash given out throughout the pandemic.

“It’s a good factor to a sure extent, however who is aware of the place it is going to come again to chew you within the years to come back,” Wendt stated. “We utilized and adopted the necessities. That’s all we will do.”

Wendt and Sons Oilfield Service, which works primarily in North Dakota, acquired PPP loans of $498,486 and $465,500. The Wendts didn’t apply for help for his or her different companies.

Considerations about strings connected to the federal support triggered the city of Cheyenne Wells to carry off on spending it. Knudsen, the city clerk, stated the city will obtain $208,000 in American Rescue Plan Act cash. The help will go towards upgrading 5 of the city’s water wells to the most recent state requirements.

“If we spent it the incorrect method, there was worry that we’d should pay it again. So, they held onto it,” Knudsen stated.

Funding the entrance traces

“We have now not forgotten” those that’ve died, stated Cheyenne County Public Well being Company Director Kelli Adamson. “Our hearts proceed to interrupt.”

Adamson, who described Cheyenne as a “small, technically frontier” county, stated every loss of life “was felt extremely deep by not simply the households, however each neighbor, church good friend, grocery retailer attendant.”

The Colorado Division of Public Well being and Atmosphere places the county’s complete variety of COVID-19 instances at 321, confirming 9 deaths amongst these. Well being care suppliers in Cheyenne County and throughout the state acquired hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to reply to the pandemic that crammed hospitals early on and in subsequent surges of the virus.

The Keefe Memorial Well being Service District acquired $2.94 million from the U.S. Well being and Human Providers Division’s Supplier Aid Fund by means of the Well being Assets and Providers Administration. Keefe Memorial Hospital in Cheyenne Wells, with clinics in Prairie View and Package Carson, secured one other $103,253.

A portion of the cash was used for bonuses and different measures to retain workers, hospital spokeswoman Shannon Borders stated. The hospital and clinics additionally employed extra workers to deal with the inflow of sufferers.

Keefe Memorial Hospital additionally spent the cash on know-how to assist look after COVID-19 sufferers, similar to moveable and stationary digital imaging, laboratory gear and provides offering fast check outcomes, Borders stated.

“Over 150 miles separates KMH from the Denver metro space, so these upgrades enable our suppliers to look after sufferers who could not in any other case have entry to well being care,” she stated in an electronic mail. “We have now efficiently helped sufferers get better from COVID within the consolation of their hometown.”

The Cheyenne County Public Well being Company acquired about $685,207 to assist a broad vary of COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 testing “and epidemiologic surveillance-related actions.” Adamson stated the company acquired an extra $125,881 in COVID-specific immunization funds.

The hospital in Craig, Memorial Regional Well being, didn’t see its first massive COVID caseload till round October 2020, when instances in different components of the state started to say no.

“That’s when searching season will get actually ramped up right here, so there have been much more folks locally. That’s after we actually began to see a spike,” stated Jennifer Riley, the hospital’s chief working officer and interim CEO. “Our hospital was very full.”

The hospital was additionally short-staffed as a result of workers fell sick. A second wave occurred within the fall of 2021, conserving the hospital busy by means of the vacations. State knowledge present Moffat County with a complete of two,999 instances and 41 deaths resulting from COVID-19.

At one level, Moffat County’s positivity fee — the proportion of all coronavirus checks which are constructive — was among the many highest within the nation, she added. The hospital and well being suppliers handled resistance to the vaccines and masks. Riley stated the county’s vaccination fee is about 50%.

“The vaccine mandate undoubtedly began to erode the workers,” Riley stated. “Craig may be very conservative and that interprets to our workforce as effectively.”

She figures that 25 to 30 workers ended up leaving due to the vaccine mandate. Others retired early, took jobs as visiting nurses or left well being care due to COVID. Memorial Regional Well being has about 360 workers and at present has 80 job postings on its web site.

Riley stated, early within the pandemic, the hospital’s former CEO Andy Daniels may see that the majority elective companies would doubtless be halted to scale back the unfold of the coronavirus. Daniels and different rural hospital representatives succeeded in getting approval to proceed these companies and elective surgical procedures — what Riley known as “our lifeblood of assist” — at critical-access hospitals.

The critical-access designation is by Medicare and sometimes applies to hospitals whose volumes may be low, however present a security web for rural areas. Memorial Regional Well being’s means to supply elective companies helped offset the losses when visits to the clinics and emergency room dropped, Riley stated.

The federal cash that the hospital acquired contains $5.5 million from Well being and Human Providers, about $3 million in PPP cash and $986,000 in American Rescue Plan Act {dollars}.

The Craig hospital additionally acquired $7.3 million in Medicare accelerated funds, that are paid again over various years by utilizing the cash for future claims. Riley stated the hospital has set the cash apart in case of an emergency, however in any other case will use it for Medicare bills.

Overcoming disadvantages

Anna Lighthizer and her aunt opened their enterprise, The Scorching Pickle Restaurant and Lounge, in a brand new location in Craig in November 2020, “as scary and loopy as that sounds.” The pandemic was in full pressure, and so they didn’t renew their administration settlement with the bowling alley the place they began the restaurant.

Lighthizer acquired a $10,000 grant from the town to assist make it by means of the powerful spots, however missed out on different alternatives as a result of she didn’t learn about them or was unsure in regards to the necessities. The restaurant added seating to a patio when inside seating was restricted, provided supply and curbside service and bought by with numerous assist from the neighborhood.

“The neighborhood undoubtedly got here collectively, and so they made certain they ordered from us. I used to be attempting to patronize smaller eating places on the town,” Lighthizer stated. “We’re all out for that very same bread and butter, however we’re all in it collectively, too.”

Andrea Camp and her husband, Dale, together with one other couple, purchased the West Twin Cinema in Craig in 2019. After transforming the constructing, they opened for enterprise in December 2019. Quickly, COVID-19 began spreading.

“We barely had simply gotten the doorways open and had simply gotten the enterprise again up and operating and ended up being closed down in March of 2020,” Camp stated.

The movie show bought a $10,000 grant from the Colorado Workplace of Movie, Tv and Media, a $5,883 mortgage by means of the federal Financial Harm Catastrophe Loans and Advances program and $25,000 in grants from the town.

“Actually, it actually has made the distinction in us having the ability to maintain the doorways open,” Camp stated. “Our working bills are comparatively excessive, with having to do social distancing and restricted capability and restrictions.”

Camp stated the theater house owners thought it was vital to maintain the enterprise open “and never have one other empty constructing” sitting downtown.

For Metropolis Supervisor Peter Brixius , conserving the institutions open in Craig, which has about 9,000 folks, was a precedence.

“In a small neighborhood, you’ll be able to’t actually afford to see lots of these companies go stomach up,” Brixius stated.

Town used roughly $642,000 of its $2.85 million in federal aid funds to assist native companies. Town added $170,000 from its common fund.

Brixius stated the town is now what it will possibly do to deal with a scarcity of reasonably priced housing in Craig and a number of the labor shortages which have turn out to be a widespread drawback throughout the pandemic. A few of the aid funds will assist with coaching for brand new law enforcement officials.

Moffat County Faculty District RE-1 was like faculty districts throughout Colorado and the nation when the pandemic hit: scrambling to determine the right way to maintain college students and workers protected whereas making certain instruction continued. They despatched youngsters house with iPads, got here up with lesson plans and utilized for the federal aid cash that may assist maintain all the pieces rolling and workers on the payroll.

Nevertheless, there have been variations for the Moffat County district due to its small workers and distant location. Staff checked on college students to ensure that they had entry to the web. In some instances, folks went to highschool to obtain materials and district workers arrange wi-fi hotspots for properties.

“We’d additionally invite folks to come back to our parking tons” to entry the web, stated John Wall, the manager director of finance and operations.

The varsity, which has 2,118 college students, will obtain a complete of about $5.6 million when all the cash arrives. Wall stated he by no means desires to complain about funding, however added that navigating the method has been troublesome.

“There’s numerous work concerned. Some districts I do know of needed to exit and rent folks simply to handle this,” Wall stated. “I don’t need to carry somebody in for 2 years if I can handle by working 10, 15 hours extra every week.”

“Rural areas are at a drawback. We had to determine a strategy to do it with much less workers,” stated Scott Pankow, district superintendent.

And the principles weren’t all the time clear, Pankow added. The district handed its audits, he stated.

Pankow stated work has begun on assessing the impacts of all of the disruption on college students’ schooling. About 20% of the third spherical of Elementary and Secondary Faculty Emergency Aid Fund cash should go to creating up the educational losses. Plans embody after-school packages and extra lecturers to deal with particular wants.

“It’s been two years and I don’t suppose we’re going to know the complete implications of the affect of this for years to come back,” Pankow stated.