Reopening Utah: Utah businesses ready to open as soon as possible

Posted: Apr 21, 2020 / 08:43 AM MDT

Updated: Apr 21, 2020 / 08:43 AM MDT

LEHI (ABC4 News) – Hope is on the horizon for Utah businesses thanks to Governor Herbert’s new plan: Utah Leads Together 2.0.

The plan feels to many like a light at the end of the tunnel; it’s the most detailed timeline we’ve seen in our local pandemic response. Beginning May 1st, Utah will step from the Urgent phase of this pandemic to Stabilization. That means slowly re-opening services like elective surgeries and in-house dining in restaurants.

Jon Allred owns the One Man Band Diner in Lehi, “We’re down about 80% overall in sales.”

Allred says he’s refused to lay anyone off but at this point he’s running completely on his savings.

“I’m really looking forward to May 2nd when we can open the dining room,\; hopefully that starts the road up.” Allred says he hasn’t seen any specific guidance on how to run his dining room, “I’m expecting reduced capacity, maybe we block off every other booth and change the way we serve to keep social distance and keep people safe.”

The Stabilization phase will last until about October, and if all goes well, we’ll move into the Recovery phase.

Allred said, “I’ve accepted that I’m not going to make any money this year, but I’ve got 20 years of history that I need to preserve.”

He says he doesn’t have much faith in the payroll protection program, but if he can open his doors, customers will come, “Thank you to all of our customers; we want to be here for you when we re-open.”

The updated timeline is a relief, but it isn’t set in stone. The governor said measures can always change based on our number of cases and our access to testing.