Businesses Respond to COVID-19: Will La Hara, Sanremo Coffee Machines USA
/By Hylan Joseph
Will La Hara, Sanremo Coffee Machines USA
Hylan Joseph: How far have your service calls/business been affected since this pandemic began?
Will La Hara: Business has unfortunately dropped pretty dramatically. Being located in the NYC metro area, we are at the epicenter of the US pandemic and were pushed into a ’shelter in place’ order pretty quickly. We are technically not an essential business, but do support businesses that are essential via remote e-mail/phone communication and limited visits to the warehouse to ship parts.
HJ: How are you communicating with your staff concerning the loss of work?
WL: The Sanremo company, being more family than workplace, have kept in constant communication with all their employees worldwide, from constant e-mail communications and phone calls to Skype video chats. We are keeping a positive attitude and taking advantage of the downtime to strategize, stock up, prepare, and organize to efficiently serve our existing and new clientele once things stabilize.
HJ: Are you going to utilize any of the state and federal program offered?
WL: We are working with our accounting team to see what can potentially benefit the company. Unfortunately, these programs are beyond my scope.
HJ: Have you or your company participated in any community volunteer events or round table discussions during this pandemic? If so, what were they?
WL: Unfortunately, we have not as our staff is extremely small. All hands are on deck at this time assisting clients with technical support as their equipment is being shut down, decommissioned, and then being re-commissioned.
HJ: Is your organization doing anything to support your local community? If so, can you provide details?
WL: We have been using the power of our social media reach and sharing our clients’ pages, locations, and offerings. Building on that, we have just expanded this on the global level with our Stronger Together project which can be seen here: bit.ly/stronger-together-sanremo
HJ: How do you feel your local community has responded to this pandemic?
WL: The NYC metro area has been relatively shut down due to being in the epicenter of the US pandemic. A lot of local roasters have switched to online sales and, unfortunately, a lot of cafes have shut down or reduced the number of open locations.
HJ: How are your employees reacting? What creative measure are you using to assist them through this time?
WL: We are currently in good spirits and gearing up for the change in climate. The vast of us have switched to working from home and essential staff at the factory is working in limited shifts/occupancy to ensure a safe work environment.
HJ: Do you think this pandemic will alter our industry? If so, how?
WL: It will definitely alter how we as people act and think moving forward, but with that said, during this pandemic, coffee – and coffee culture – has remained to be important in people’s daily lives. I do not feel our industry will necessarily decline, but foresee an influx of the coffee community investing in higher-end, home-use equipment setups.
HJ: What are your key takeaways so far? What are the crucial lessons you will walk away with for the future?
WL: My key takeaway from this is that for as much negativity this pandemic has brought, there is a lot of positive. Skimming through social media can show you how the coffee community has come together to support local cafes with walk-up window service, ordering coffee online, and sharing their favorite brew methods and recipes. It’s been great seeing how creative some people can be and then replicating it for myself.
I feel we have never been more connected globally as a human race than now.
HJ: Are you hiring? If so why?
WL: Yes! Prior to this pandemic, Sanremo Italy has begun an aggressive initiative to invest in Sanremo USA and expand the brand stateside. I was actually their first new hire as part of this and am still seeking qualified sales personnel. If there is any interest, please do not hesitate to reach out to our GM, Alessio Troia at alessio.t@sanremous.com.