Limited snow, pandemic add uncertainty to plowing businesses

While there isn’t much snow on the ground, plow companies are looking ahead.

October brought on the sudden storm.

“It was pretty crazy,” said Zachary Otten, an employee at White Beard Services in St. Paul. “We pretty much got all of our equipment set, like, the night before. We got it all set, we had to do a couple changes in the equipment, we had to get it updated for removal. We got it all ready, it was pretty crazy and we were reaching out to our customers.”

But fast forward to December and it seems like people are golfing more than shoveling. The lack of plows is heightened by the desire to stay indoors, as more and more people work from home.

And while it may seem like business will be bad forever, Otten says there is always demand for an extra helping hand.

“Everyone doesn’t seem like they don’t want their sidewalks removed because they’re staying inside," he said. "Everyone seems like they want their clean sidewalk, they want their clean driveway… ’cause they still want to get their morning coffee, they still go shopping and stuff, and obviously they don’t want the snow to pile up."

The weather and pandemic feel so unpredictable, many can’t decide whether the per diem plan or the monthly plan makes sense.