After all was said and done, more than $150 million in federal COVID-19 relief aid flowed into the Kenai Peninsula Borough. But, five years later, do recipients think that influx ultimately made a difference? KDLL posed the question to people around the peninsula.
It’s a sunny day in Hope, where Jessica Hogan sits under a wooden pavilion her husband built using American Rescue Plan Act Act dollars. The couple owns Turnagain Kayak Adventure Center and Coffeehouse. But Hogan says 2019 was their last big year for kayaking.
“So we started as a kayak company to offer coffee to our customers, and it’s really transformed since 2020,” she said.
The business started in their garage in Palmer and brought them to Hope for proximity to the water. Before the pandemic, they were primarily a sea kayaking outfitter. Guides would come to Alaska from around the world, stay at Hogan’s Airbnb and have access to high-quality kayaking gear they didn’t have to bring.
But Hogan says the pandemic made that business model difficult.
“With COVID, they couldn't travel that entire year,” she said. “And then after that, it was too expensive for them to travel. And so that was a enough incentive for us to transition to primarily this cafe.”
Hogan’s business used Paycheck Protection Plan loans to pay for between five and seven employees. And they got a more than $300,000 disaster assistance loan she says was used to build the pavilion, the front facade of their coffee house and a new timber frame chalet for their Airbnb. They also got a grant from the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
“We lost a whole section, like, of our business,” she said. “The outfitting was gone, and that was just, like, it was, you know, one-third of our business consistently for a decade, and then it wasn't, then it was gone. But we had grant money that, I think that really covered for it for that year.”
But for all the relief dollars that flooded the peninsula during the pandemic, not every business was able to keep its doors open. And some are mixed on whether every relief program was a net benefit for Kenai Peninsula
Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank described the city’s residential utility relief program as a “kick in the teeth” for participants and the city. The program, implemented by state lawmakers, prohibited the city from shutting off utilities for delinquent customers.
But Eubank says it was a knee-jerk reaction to the beginning of the pandemic that wasn’t completely thought out.
“It didn't make the bill go away,” he said. “ … It wasn't relief, it wasn't forgiveness of utility bills. It was, for two years we couldn't shut you off and force payment. That's one of our only ways. And then at the end of that now you've got, you know, a $2,000 bill in arrears, and people are scrambling, trying to figure out, you know, how, how to fix that.”
And he says you can draw a line between federal pandemic spending and current inflation levels.
“You can't inject that amount of money into the economy without there being significant impact and effect,” he said.
Around the Kenai Peninsula, remnants of pandemic spending are scattered like easter eggs.
In Seward, an automated kiosk purchased with COVID funds greets patients at the door of Seward Community Health Center. iPads providers once delivered around town to help patients take their own vitals are now used for translation services during appointments.
Looking back, CEO Jilian Chapman says the federal aid made “all the difference.”
“Because of the marked decline in preventive patient visits and the increase in, really, the demand for services across the board,” she said. “I mean that double whammy – without the federal funding influx, we would have been in a position where we would have had to cut staff.”
Ninilchik Natives Association Operations Manager Heather McCloskey says their organization bought a loader with their COVID money to clear more tribal land to member subsistence with the goal of boosting food security. And she says they still benefit from a pandemic-era understanding with the Ninilchik Tribal Council.
“We have a cooperative management agreement that we began in 2021 for this purpose, to go out and do the land, the mowing and stuff with the equipment, and they're the operators of the equipment,” she said. “So we purchased most of the equipment, and then they operate it.”
When asked whether they think the relief funds made a difference, people across all sectors of the economy had similar thoughts.
“Yeah, they – absolutely,” said South Peninsula Behavioral Health Center CEO Jay Bechtol.
“For us, it made all the difference,” said Chapman.
“Yeah, I don’t think that we would have made it through,” said Homer Council On the Arts Director Executive Director Scott Bartlett.
“I think it must’ve,” said Homer Mayor Rachel Lord.
“Absolutely, yeah,” said Seldovia City Manager Heidi Geagel.
“Yes, 100% yes,” said Seward City Manager Kat Sorensen.
“Oh yeah, 100%,” said Hogan.
This was the final installment in a new reporting series by KDLL called “What a Relief,” which looks at the impact and legacy of federal COVID-19 relief funds distributed to the Kenai Peninsula. This reporting is supported by the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism. Find all six episodes of this series online at kdll.org.
