As thousands of visitors crowded into the Abilene Convention Center on Wednesday to network and collect swag at the Abilene Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Expo, signs of the pandemic mostly were absent compared to the previous two years.
COVID-19 precautions twice delayed the event until August instead of its normal March opening.
However, many of the nearly 150 exhibitors still were feeling the effects of the pandemic, with supply chain issues still a topic of discussion, even as much of life has returned to normal.
“It changed a lot of things,” said Allison Alvarez, marketing director with Arrow Ford. “At the beginning, we completely shut down the interior of the dealership and moved all of sales outside. We had tents up, and all of our entire sales process we did in the parking lot.”
“Now, we’re back inside doing business pretty normally. But as far as inventory, it has really changed the landscape of our business. All different manufacturers have dealt with supply chain issues and inventory shortages.”
Addressing those issues led the company to adopt a much greater focus on custom vehicle orders, Alvarez said.
“Inventory and supply will never look the same as it did before the pandemic, but that just helps us be leaner and more efficient, and with custom orders we still can provide for our customers exactly what they need,” she said.
Others — such as Casye Fowler, co-owner of the Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes location in Abilene — still are experiencing issues,…
