Some MN businesses are booming amid the pandemic – TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

Sunny Bowman, owner of Dakota County Lumber in Farmington, talks about how 2020 has been a good year for the company on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. Sales this year have surged 40 percent, she said, because of the pandemic. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Many businesses are raking in COVID cash, even as the disease spreads into their workforce.

I feel a little guilty about it, said Sunny Bowman, owner of Dakota County Lumber in Farmington. Sales this year have surged 40 percent, she said, because of the pandemic.

The coronavirus has taken its toll, with more than 5,000 Minnesotans infected having since died. It has also forced the doors closed of many businesses as health officials stressed keeping us far enough from each other to stop its spread; bars and restaurants have been hit especially hard. But it has also spurred innovation. Companies have had to re-envision the office and how we connect. Others have retool to provide protective equipment and the basic essentials in the middle of a pandemic.

Home remodeling and construction is one industry that is thriving, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Others include business that handle groceries, liquor, hardware, in-home exercise equipment, cleaning services, used cars, deliveries, tutoring and garden supplies.

Mary Beth Stevens knows why cleaning businesses are on the list. She owns MBs Cleaning Services, which moved into a larger office in West St. Paul in the midst of the pandemic.We are getting new customers every week, she said.

Like the virus itself, her business is quickly evolving. She added a High Touch Point service sanitizing doorknobs, TV remotes, toilet handles or anywhere hands can go. She pared down her schedule when customers started to ask for only one cleaner at a time instead of the normal two-person crews. And the business evolved instantly when three workers came down with COVID-19 after exposure from their families.

Now we take temperatures every day, said Stevens. If you have any kind of a sniffle, you stay home.

Business is good, she said, but not as good as what she expects next year.

I feel that business will absolutely explode, she said. We are all so much more conscious of being clean.

Jim Neumann, manager of Beisswengers Hardware in New Brighton, said that sales in 2020 will be roughly the same as last year.

We have not missed a beat, he said.

The first half of the year was stronger, said Neumann, because of COVID relief checks to families. Now, people are not assured that they will have jobs, Neumann said.

Sales for December had been down because of a lack of snow early on with all the salt, shovels and snow-blowers sitting in the store. But Christmas tree sales are strong, said Neumann, as home-bound workers try to make their surroundings more cozy.

When several workers at Dakota County Lumber came down with COVID, Bowman quickly identified the culprit.

It was her. I caught it from my toddler, she said, sheepishly.

She immediately shut down the office, sent everyone home, and was able to re-open later with no hint of COVID.

In spite of the attack on her workforce, business is booming. It surged in April, when home-bound workers decided to start building decks. They then decided to fix their interiors, refinishing basements and adding home offices.

New construction kept business humming, too. She has seen customers who sold their homes in the core cities, then moved to the exurbs for a lower-stress lifestyle.

The business thrived despite COVID spreading to her husband, another child, herself and her co-workers. The originator of all that illness her son didnt get sick himself other than a rash.

COVID-19 took a lot from Minnesotans: their fun, their livelihoods and, for 5,000, their very lives. As we surveyed the wreckage of 2020, we also saw the silver linings that came out of the pandemic for this daily series of stories. Other silver linings:

CHRISTMAS: Churches making the best of the pandemic; giving is up and seniors adapt to online

SATURDAY: A gift from COVID: No crowds on freeways or mass transit

SUNDAY: Families add hockey rinks, adopt kittens to help each other cope through pandemic

MONDAY: Pandemic spurs teachers to find ways to keep kids reading

TUESDAY: Students find opportunities for growth, quality time in pandemic

To read more articles on the pandemic, go online to twincities.com/tag/coronavirus

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Some MN businesses are booming amid the pandemic - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press