NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. (WHDH) - Gov. Charlie Baker ended his inaugural week tour by visiting businesses affected by the Merrimack Valley gas explosions.
Months after the disaster, many of those establishments are still struggling to recover, but the owners are hoping the new year will get them back to business.
While visiting a store on Saturday, Baker said the Merrimack Valley is open for business.
“A lot of anxiety as they went through the whole period associated with the disruption,” Baker said. “And remember, if you were one of the ones who weren’t disrupted, you were still disrupted because, in many cases, your customers and your vendors, your suppliers, your employees, and all sorts of other people were disrupted by it, too.”
Dozens of businesses were forced to close following the gas disaster in Andover, North Andover, and Lawrence. Those who could stay open had very few customers to serve.
Sue Roberts, whose family-run pastry shop was able to stay open and keep its employees, said they’re still trying to recover from the lack of sales.
“There was no one around, it was a ghost town,” Roberts said. “It’s a lot of waste, it’s a lot of donating, it’s a lot of work for nothing, but what are you going to do, right?”
Roberts filed a claim with Columbia Gas but does not know when she will get paid. Local leaders say that is part of the problem.
“If you’re a small business, you may have survived the gas disaster, you may have seen the business come back, but what happens in the long term if you lived without cash flow for six to eight weeks?” Andrew Maylor, North Andover’s town manager, said.
Local leaders say they are still negotiating to make sure Columbia Gas repays every customer and repaves every sidewalk and street.
“Every time Columbia Gas fumbles on what to do with the bill situation, it makes it worse,” Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera said. “For a lot of people, it makes it like [an] insult to injury.”
In the meantime, the focus for these small businesses is on a fresh start for the new year.
“We got through it and we’re looking toward 2019 as being brighter and positive,” Robert said.
Local leaders say they have a lot of programs planned to encourage people to return to these businesses, but it will take a long time for both the businesses and the residents to fully recover.
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