by Ulises Orozco, reporter
OMAHA – Adel Molina, manager of Mixins Rolling Ice Cream, has been busy taking in-person and over the phone orders. She says the happy hour, running sales and putting out new flavors is how they have kept business moving forward.
“It would have probably still been slow around 6 o’clock – 6:30 p.m. if we weren’t having a happy hour,” said Molina.
According to data on the Nebraska Economic Recovery Dashboard, a joint project of the UNO Center for Public Affairs Research and the Planning Committee of the Nebraska State Legislature, Nebraska’s economy is weathering the COVID-19 downturn better than its neighboring states.
Josie Schafer, Director of the Center for Public Affairs Research, said there are a couple of explanations for that.
“One, we had a really high labor force participation rate going in to COVID-19,” said Schafer.
Schafer said the second explanation was the influx of federal dollars.
“We were able to capture more of the payroll protection programs as a percent of our business, than a lot of other states,” said Schafer.
Mixins has been able to keep its doors open throughout the COVID-19 downturn, thanks to a few changes.
“We started doing like a on call, call in orders and then pick it up, and will run it out to you,” said Molina.
Molina attributes Nebraska weathering the COVID-19 downturn better than its neighboring states to the precautions that businesses are taking.
Molina says that at the end of the day, it’s all about the customer.
“We always try to remain positive, and try to please them while they’re here because we don’t know what they’re going through out there,” said Molina.
