Storm Hits Central Mass. Businesses Hard
Businesses in parts of Central Massachusetts are struggling with power outages after Saturday's storm, and it could still be days before they're up and running again.
State officials said this morning that about 500,000 customers in the state were without power, but that number should be cut in half by the end of the day.
Marissa Torres, communications manager at the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, said five main transformers are down in Leominster, and businesses in the city could be without power for about a week. Torres said even the Mall at Whitney Field and major grocery stores in town were closed yesterday.
"Basically everything in Leominster was down yesterday," she said.
Torres said the situation in Fitchburg is better, though parts of that city are without power too.
At the North Quabbin Chamber, manager Rebecca Bialecki said there have been long lines at the only gas stations that have power, and grocery stores are selling dry goods only because their refrigerators and freezers were down due to the outage.
Bialecki said Athol tool manufacturer The L.S. Starrett Co. was up and running, but water control products maker Rodney Hunt Co. in Orange had to shut down its operations, which usually run around the clock. She said she doesn't know if that company has power today, and she said even once power is restored it may take significant time to get the manufacturing process going again.
"Sometimes when they have to shut down machines, you lose a whole day restarting," she said.
At the Nashoba Valley Chamber in Devens, Executive Director Melissa Fetterhoff said the local area, which is covered by both National Grid and Unitil, expects to have all power restored Thursday. Fetterhoff said the situation is extremely hard on businesses.
"They lose all of their revenues," she said. "They have to weigh what they do with their employees. Are they in a position to pay their employees for time off?"
But Fetterhoff said one group of businesses that saw a positive impact of the storm was the restaurants that kept their power on Sunday. The Devens Grill and others were packed, she said, both because residents left without power couldn't cook at home and because everyone was looking for a live television so they could watch football.
"It became a necessity to find a place with the Patriots game playing," she said. "Never mind the heat and the electricity."
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