(Photo by Zachary Meseck)

NORWICH – The City of Norwich Mayor met with local business owners to discuss how the coronavirus has impacted them and how they have kept their businesses alive.

Mayor Shawn Sastri invited two Norwich business owners to city hall, Cottage Bakery Owner Kate Tefft and The Artists' Palette Owner Jill Kraft, to ask them what the city can do to help its businesses during the pandemic.

Tefft started off by discussing why she opened up her business, and how she made it through the first shutdown.

“When I made this business it was supposed to be a few hours a week,” said Tefft. “I wanted flexibility, and my kids always come first.”

She said eventually the work picked up, and it became a full time job. She added that when the coronavirus hit, everything moved quickly, and it wasn’t clear what was going to happen with the government until it did.

“There was no warning, everything happened too quickly, and all of a sudden we were shutdown,” said Tefft. “Fortunately there was never a time where we didn’t have a backup plan.”

She said working with The Artists' Palette Owner and Kraft made things somewhat easier, as their group was able to brainstorm ideas together and be proactive.