As New Jersey’s Stage 2 reopening concludes its first week, businesses that have been shuttered since March are learning what their new operating environment is like.
One of those lessons involves the cost of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies that will be needed to keep coronavirus at bay and workplaces as safe as possible.
As Karin Price Mueller reported recently for NJ Advanced Media, some businesses have begun to price these extra costs into their goods or services, or are adding a surcharge.
Michele Siekerka, head of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, told Mueller it’s unfortunate that some businesses may need to pass on PPE costs to consumers when they reopen.
“In many cases, businesses had slim profit margins before the health crisis, much of it brought on by the very high cost of doing business in New Jersey in the first place,” she said. “Now these same companies and others are facing new expenses after having been shut down or limited in operations for the past three months.”
