Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today
Cindy Aguirre
(Seguin) — Despite these uncharted waters brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the local manufacturing community remains healthy. That’s according to Josh Schneuker, the executive director for the Seguin Economic Development Corporation. Schneuker says although things can always change, he is proud of how everyone has come together and is moving forward.
“For the most part, things remain healthy, we have been having weekly calls with our manufacturing community just to see how things are going, provide relevant updates to that group as well since many of our major employers are manufacturers here in Seguin but right now, things are still moving forward. Things can change day to day though. We are trying to be a resource to our manufacturing community out there. Some companies, just depending on the industry sector that they are in, are going to be a little bit busier than others but I think we are all just trying to adjust and trying to share ideas with one another and trying to keep everybody afloat during this time of uncertainty. I know things will get back to normal. We just kind of have to weather the storm right now and we are all hoping that it is going to be sooner rather than later,” said Schneuker.
Schneuker says the dynamics of being a manufacturing community is also beneficial in holding down a workforce. He says other communities who rely on tourism or other types of commerce are finding themselves not as lucky.
“There’s some different resources out there that I kind of looked at online that kind of highlight the I guess the vulnerability index is what I’ve seen it referred to online and because we do have a lot of manufacturing and that type of industry in our community, we haven’t seen the mass layoffs and furloughs that we might hear of in other communities so we are a little bit insulated and protected in a situation like this simply because of that,” said Schneuker.
Schneuker says he is also proud of the enhanced safety measures that have been put into place for that bulk of employees who continues to clock in at the various manufacture ring plants in Seguin.
“I do know that with a lot of our manufacturers still operating, they are doing the best that they can to ensure that the safety of their workforce following those CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) guidelines that have been put out there during the situation and I really want to thank all those folks who are still working so hard. There’s a lot of folks that are making sure that we have water and food on the table and they are putting in those extra hours so really thank you to them for all the hard work at this time,” said Schneuker.
In addition to helping companies fill job openings, Schneuker says the SEDC has also committed itself to focusing on each of them at this time. He says ensuring that they have all the proper resources is vital toward seeing this pandemic through.
“We are optimistic that we will be able to bounce back. We are hoping that it’s sooner rather than later. For us at the SEDC, it’s completely changed our typical operation of work. We’ve really been focused on making sure that we are a resource to our businesses at this time and that we are trying to put out as much information out there as we can on our social media channels. We’ve created a special page on our website that has that COVID-19 resources and information. We are just trying to keep that communication with our major businesses and the community so I think a lot of folks and businesses have had to adapt to the changes of the situation — no different on our end — but we are committed to helping them get through this and we are hoping we can get through this as soon as possible and help that transition to getting back to normal here in the near future,” said Schneuker.
The SEDC has committed itself to providing a series of COVID-19 updates. These updates cover a wide range of areas. Those areas include but are not limited to take out curbside businesses, shopping Seguin, remote working tools, health updates and webinars. Those looking for individual information on their business is asked to visit seguinedc.com.
