On September 20th Brent Jussel, a Business Advisor with the Idaho Small Business and Jan Roeser, a regional economist with Idaho Department of Labor spoke to the effects Covid-19 has had on the workforce in Elmore County.

Jussel reviewed a summary of information regarding the funding of SBA COVID Programs for small businesses in Mountain Home. To date, Mountain Home had between 389 businesses that applied for the PPP, EIDL, and RRF – totaling approximately $19,951,700 of Federal dollars into our local economy. He went on to discuss the differences of each program and additional programs SBA is still facilitating, click here for more information.

Roeser added how these programs accounted for the fast recovery in Idaho, noting the Covid-19 downturn was able to recover in approximately 2 months. She shared trends and indicators recognizing that our community is currently in a labor shortage due to specific industries still being affected by Covid-19, low wage and benefits packages, and the growing popularity of remote offices. Click Here to view statistics and information for Elmore County provided by Idaho Department of Labor.