Customers enjoy the outdoor seating Thursday, July 7, 2022, at the Outlaw Restaurant in Joseph. The Outlaw is one business that has had a hard time finding enough employees to serve all the customers who show up. Its owner attributes that problem to government assistance that leads people out of the workforce.

WALLOWA COUNTY — As the tourism season ramps up in the wake of two years of difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, business owners and others are feeling optimistic — for the most part.

“The sentiment does seem to be optimistic,” said Jennifer Piper, executive director of the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce in Enterprise during an interview Thursday, July 7.

Jude Graham, of the Joseph Chamber of Commerce, agreed.

“I think everybody’s optimistic,” she said. “The tourists that are coming through are having a great time. They’re excited about traveling again and the businesses are excited about the summer.”

Mike Lockhart, who is both a business owner — the Wallowa Lake Tramway — and a representative of the Wallowa Lake Tourism Association, was cautiously optimistic.

“It’s really hard to say because we’re dealing with so many negative variables,” he said.

He said for the tram, the big thing is the weather. If it’s cloudy or smoky, visibility is down and people can’t get a good view from the top of Mount Howard. But he’s optimistic it will improve.

He said tourist accommodations are doing well and visitors are staying longer.

“That may be because of the price of gas, but I really don’t know,” he said. “There’s so many things screwed up but it’s really hard to tell.”

One of the challenges business owners face is a lack of employees. During the pandemic, state and federal unemployment insurance allowed people to take time off from work.

“A lot of people quit the labor force for the couch,” Lockhart said. “Other people had good reason to quit, such as approaching retirement age. This just accelerated it somewhat.”

He noted that from personal observation, many local youths don’t seem to be working.

“But I really don’t know what’s causing trouble with the labor force,” he said.

Scott Rushton, co-owner of the Outlaw Restaurant in Joseph, said the lack of employees is hurting his business.

“The business is there but there’s just no employees because of all the government money they’ve been given. Nobody wants to work,” he said, adding that he’s only open half days as a result and hasn’t opened his ice cream stand. “People are showing up even though the gas prices are high.”

He said he is aware of other businesses experiencing the same problem.

Graham agreed that the government’s answer to the pandemic of infusing communities with more money didn’t really help.

“I think it hurt,” she said. “There’s a lot of businesses looking for employees and they’re on government assistance. Some of that money was spent out of the county.”

Piper noted that in addition to the labor problems, the weather has been a challenge this year. Although last year saw much heat and smoke from wildfires, the rainy spring and cloudy weather experienced this year have been a challenge.

While the dire fears many business owners expressed when the government shut down businesses at the start of the pandemic in 2020 for the most part didn’t materialize, other challenges such as the labor shortage has.

“The challenges were not so much lack of business or a lack of customers,” Piper said. “The challenges (now are a) lack of staffing … that businesses are still facing. … It is still a big challenge.”

Just the same, most interviewed were hopeful the tourist season now underway will be at the very least a “leveling out this summer, as Piper said.

Lockhart said from what he’s heard, restaurants and lodging establishments are doing well.

“I look forward to the summer and I’m very optimistic that it’ll be a great one,” Graham said.