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“I’ve never seen so many Help Wanted signs”

May 4, 2021
A view of the strong labor market in a rural Ohio town.
Dr. Scott Anzalone, a physician in Logan, Ohio, says tourists seeking rentals have injected cash into the local economy.
Photo courtesy of Scott Anzalone

For small-business owners, “it’s just never-ending”

Mar 17, 2021
An independent hairstylist reflects on her newfound respect for small-business ownership after a year on her own.
Hairstylist Ashley Nelson’s private suite in downtown Boise, Idaho. She's looking to grow and bring people with her.
Courtesy of Ashley Nelson

The pandemic as seen by a high-school senior and his older brother

Feb 17, 2021
“It's very easy to just stay in your room all day and not let anybody know what's happening to you,” says student AJ Williams.
CPA Michael Durant, right, and his younger brother, AJ Williams. The brothers lost their mother to COVID, and Williams is missing his freedom because of the quarantine.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

How one family is looking ahead to a post-pandemic world

Dec 9, 2020
After a dark year, New York City Accountant Michael Durant says he’s “starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.”
New York City accountant Michael Durant says he's beginning to see "light at the end of the tunnel" after a difficult year.
Henry Guttmann Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

“I can do better”

Sep 4, 2020
How 2020 changed this new college grad’s priorities.
Kate Bellino had a plan for 2020. But the coronavirus pandemic, the killing of George Floyd and protests over racial justice changed her priorities.
(Photo by Matt Staver)

Navigating the pandemic when “every decision is an individual decision”

Jul 27, 2020
With mixed messaging coming from the government, community college dean Derrick Lindstrom says acting appropriately comes down personal choices.
Community college Dean Derrick Lindstrom with his wife, Christina, kids Ella and Charles, and dog Lucie.
Courtesy Derrick Lindstrom

For some, navigating the pandemic is like “walking on a sheet of ice”

Jul 16, 2020
Tax accountant Michael Durant is seeing his small business clients through a storm, but facing another at home.
Certified Public Accountant Michael Durant said trying to survive the pandemic is "like walking on a sheet of ice" for some of his small business clients. "You're just trying to get to the other side and hoping that it maintains," he said.
Friso Gentsch/DPA/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

An independent movie theater operator facing 'great unknowns'

Apr 16, 2020
The Belcourt Theatre might be closed, but for its Executive Director Stephanie Silverman, the work goes on.
The Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee, reopened on April 23, but executive director Stephanie Silverman says the crowds have been "inconsistent."
Tom Gatlin courtesy Belcourt Theatre

One bartender faces the prospect of weeks without pay: “It’s gonna become a problem pretty quick.”

Mar 16, 2020
Neil Cairns, a bartender in Portland, Oregon says he'll just have to "hope for the best" as he faces reduced hours and the prospect of bar closures.
Neil Cairns at the Game Knight Lounge in Portland, Oregon.
Thomas Patterson

How COVID-19 is affecting one small-town doctor

Mar 12, 2020
For physician Scott Anzalone of Ohio, the scariest part of the outbreak isn't the illness.
Dr. Scott Anzalone serves around 3,500 patients from his small clinic in Logan, Ohio.
Cassidy Brauner