Butler County businesses grapple with winter storm fallout
A powerful snowstorm that blanketed Butler County over the past weekend forced some businesses to modify or close down, slowing commerce across the region.
While many could work from home, some braved the 11 to 20 inches of snow that covered Butler County on Sunday, Jan. 25, showcasing their desire to help serve communities despite the challenging elements.
According to Ken Frederick, store manager of the Evans City Ace Hardware, many of its workers live close to the store, allowing it to open two hours early on Jan. 25.
“We opened up in case anyone needed some last minute items before the snow got too heavy,” Frederick said. “We did close then a little early, but we were open the same amount of hours we normally would be thanks to the owner and staff that live within walking distance of the store.”
The day of the storm proved to be a slow day of business for the store, but Saturday, Jan. 24, was a different story.
“We ran out of salt on Saturday, but we had some milk in stock, unlike the big box stores who I heard ran out in the area,” Frederick said. “We were open Monday and were able to open for normal hours that day. Once again, pretty slow day. It was us here cleaning off the sidewalks and getting our parking lot situated.”
During the fallout from the storm, it became clear in many parts of Butler County that snow maintenance crews were running out of places to put the snow. It wasn’t until a few days later when Evans City residents started to see progress in that regard.
“They have a snow route marked off next to our store,” Frederick said. “That piled up, but pretty quickly this weekend they had excavation crews out working Main Street for parking. I would say they did a pretty good job overall and got rid of the snow pretty quickly.”
Frederick said its tough to find the balance between ordering too much inventory and not enough, as some years have brought mild winters and some salt in stock sat until the following winter.
“I feel like we did a pretty good job and there is not a whole lot more I wish we would have done,” Frederick said. “Mother Nature is just so unpredictable.”
In the City of Butler, Councilman Troy Douthett said, as of Tuesday, Jan. 27, the roads department is planning to have snow hauled out of Main Street and the business district.
Peter Kupas, co-owner of Vintage Coffee House in Butler said the business is normally closed on Sundays, but on Monday, even after the storm cleanup efforts, foot traffic for the day was slowed.
“The biggest hindrance was the parking and where to put all the snow,” Kupas said. “We don't have a parking lot. There were many customers that didn't want to park on Main Street because there was really no parking. There is not a lot extra we can do to prepare.”
From his observations, Kupas said some other businesses were also open on Monday, but it was hard to tell how many.
Racquelle Davis, CEO of Zen Freight Solutions, a business specializing in flatbed job site transportation among other things across the United States, said the storm impacted logistics transports from Texas all the way to the Northeast.
She said, as of Thursday, Jan. 29, there were still portions of north Texas shut down, particularly around the Interstate 20 area due to ice.
“The storm hit Texas on Friday (Jan. 23) and it's up to about 45 degrees today and it is melting,” Davis said. “They are starting to see things move, but it did slow everything down for about a week.”
The drivers Davis helps manage regularly pick up loads from ports around the country, which were also backed up due to snowy, cold conditions, creating a snowball effect in the transportation space.
“The Houston ports and New Jersey ports slowed down and some were not working in Baltimore,” Davis said. “Things like that were out two or three days. Then the trucking is pushed out a couple days. So everything is just delayed. Everyone is working through it. It’s just a matter of getting more drivers on the road to make up for it.”
Over the past week, Davis has been in constant communication with customers and drivers, advising them when and where it is safe to be on the road.
For example, Davis had a driver who picked up a load in Pennsylvania and their end destination was in California.
The driver did have a stop in Oklahoma and by the time they got there, the job site the driver was delivering to was closed down, so the driver had to wait over 24 hours to drop off the load.
“This past weekend they shut down Interstate 80 and all of Pennsylvania’s turnpikes for commercial vehicles,” Davis said. “That is something where we keep our customers aware and check in with our drivers to make sure they know of the dangers and where they can be safely off the road. It’s all about communication and trying to relay whatever the next shift is in where we need to go.”
Davis said by the week of Feb. 2, transportation schedules should return to a normal pace and job sites should be back open to receive shipments.
“It's cold across the country and it just slows things down,” Davis said. “Job sites slow down, especially for people that work outside. There is a lot of manufacturing workers in the south that work outside. When there is inclement weather they just don't work.”
