It’s been a tough year, but that isn’t stopping the people of the Poconos.

The theme of this year’s Economic Outlook Summit was “Pocono Pride, Promise, Progress.”

Hosted annually by East Stroudsburg University, the summit was held online last week, and focused on the economic indicators within the four-county Pocono Region - Monroe, Carbon, Pike and Wayne counties.

Mary Frances Postupack, ESU’s vice president for economic development and entrepreneurship, was summit organizer and moderator.

The keynote speakers included Frank Robinson, director at Econsult Solutions Inc. in Philadelphia, and Dr. Wendy Braund, the COVID-19 response director for the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Postupack said, “This year’s summit is more important than ever as we collectively explore the data to strategize how our Pocono region can recover and rebuild our economic foothold in the commonwealth.”

Robinson’s speech didn’t shy away from the difficult economic numbers, but sought to encourage solutions and focused on resiliency.

“It is an understatement to say that we are in hard times, but this is also a good time to think about where we are in particularly as a region and where you want to go. That leads to the road of economic recovery and prosperity for the region,” he said.

“You sit in one of the most beautiful regions in our country,” he said about the area’s natural resources, and it has been a refuge for people to go to unwind. “Your location is an asset.”

Between June and November of this year, revenue for small businesses dropped by 28.7%, Robinson said. Consumer spending in the state dropped 13.7%. In Monroe, spending dropped 25.5%. Carbon saw a drop of 15.5%, Pike 29.6% and Wayne just 2.7%.

“Consumer spending is often linked to consumer confidence,” he said.

Not surprisingly, food service and drink places were hardest hit, and unemployment was highest in low-income jobs.

Robinson thinks COVID-19 grants are crucial to helping small businesses during the pandemic.

“We’re going to need to find those additional grants … to make sure the strategy that needs to be laid out can be funded, and businesses can survive and they can move from surviving to thriving,” he said. “That’s what resiliency should look like.”

All four counties have received some grant money.

• Monroe County - received a total of $16.7 million in grants: $1.1 million through Pa. Small Business Grant programs; $288,618 through COVID-19 Pa. Hazard Pay Grant; $381,761 through the Emergency Solutions Grant; and $15 million through the Cares Act.

• Carbon County - a total of $15.7 million: $285,000 through Pa. Small Business Grant programs; $258,428 through COVID-19 Pa. Hazard Pay Grant; $3.6 million through County Block Grant; $5.7 million through the Cares Act; and $5.8 million through additional grants.

• Wayne County - a total of $8 million: $229,516 through Pa. Small Business Grant programs; $197,302 through COVID-19 Pa. Hazard Pay Grant; $177,316 through the Emergency Solutions Grant; $3.6 million through the Cares Act; and $3.8 million through additional grants.

• Pike County - a total of $5.3 million: $335,000 through Pa. Small Business Grant programs; and $5 million through the Cares Act.

Tourism is a significant part of the economy in the Poconos, and although the hotel market saw a huge loss due to the pandemic, down by 19.3% in Monroe County, the data showed that people took day trips to the Poconos instead of going on their typical weeklong vacations.

Businesses adapting

In Robinson’s “Road to Resiliency,” he suggested that although the area of tourism is predominant in the area, there should be an effort to strive toward a diversified economy. Set goals and measure success. By learning from the bumps in the road, adjusting the plan, and rethinking some strategies, the area will be able to move forward and be resilient.

The summit also included four short videos sprinkled between speakers that showed the ingenuity of the area companies to bring in revenue and help others. Some businesses basically reinvented themselves, switching from what they usually make to what was most in need - personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer.

Monadnock Non-Wovens LLC in Mount Pocono adjusted from fabrics for automotive, biotechnology and industrial markets to making N95 masks. The move has been so profitable that the company has hired additional employees and is looking to construct a new building.

“We are one of the few people that have the capabilities to make these types of things, so they naturally came to us,” said Kevin Hayward, managing director of the company. “A lot of companies have struggled during the pandemic because of the forced shutdowns. We’ve had the exact opposite.”

Similarly, Insurrection Distillery in Lehighton started making hand sanitizer. And companies stepped up to make donations. Sharps Compliance in Nesquehoning donated masks, gowns and gloves to Carbon hospitals and emergency responders.

Boyce Products, a furniture and fabrication company in Damascus, doubled its manufacturing facility. And some new business arrived, too.

Weis Markets opened a new store in Dingmans Ferry, a new 70-bed nursing home and assisted living home is complete in Matamoras, and firetruck manufacturer Sutphen East Corp. in Lake Ariel rolled out its first firetruck this year in its new location.