TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Bull Horn Communications, a Tampa Bay public relations firm, is launching a new website to showcase how businesses are adapting and changing to keep people employed.
The number of people without jobs in the United States continues to reach unimaginable levels. The Department of Labor reports more than 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance last week. That adds to some 22 million people who have already lost their jobs since the COVID-19 crisis hit the U.S.
“I think there is something embedded in the American spirit that transcends a crisis like this,” said Travis Horn, the President and CEO of Bull Horn Communications.
When the crisis first hit, Horn questioned how he would pay the mortgage and keep earning for his family.
“Being a military veteran, that suck it up, drive on mentality definitely helps,” Horn said. “It is something that doesn’t let you sit around and feel sorry for yourself.”
Horn is a U.S. Army Veteran who served in the 82nd Airborne Division in the Persian Gulf. His mission now, tell stories about local businesses fighting to get through this crisis. This month he launched a new website called the Coronavirus Pivot. The site is featuring non-profits, local businesses, and tech companies changing how they operate to keep money coming in.
“You have to embrace this and go at it like every other American generation before,” Horn said.
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Horn believes in the power of storytelling and helping others in a time of crisis.
Each week he plans to profile a new business that is changing how they operate.
The President of American Media Group, Charles Broadhurst, is also teaming up with Horn. Broadhurst focuses on sports advertising and entertainment. Two industries crippled by the coronavirus. Weeks before the pandemic Broadhurst was preparing for a once in a lifetime opportunity, the Super Bowl in his own backyard, Tampa 2021.
“We have 17,000 square feet basically in the heart of Ybor City,” Broadhurst said. “Promotions companies start planning this stuff the week after Miami. So, we were getting phone calls on people looking to rent out our space from the week after the Super Bowl up until probably mid-February when all this stuff started.”
Broadhurst is now working with Horn to sell medical supplies and anything else in high demand.
“You know, anyone that sees this, we’ll sell anything. Seriously,” Broadhurst said.
As long as sporting venues are empty, Broadhurst will have to do what he can to keep paying his employees.
“Even if they are saying no now, there’s going to be a certain point in time I want to be the first person on the phone with somebody when they say you know what I am ready to market,” Broadhurst said. “If you are starting to think about it now, you are talking to people now; then, when people start to say yes, you’ll be on the front-line of people saying yes.”
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Horn and Broadhurst optimistic that with the connections they are making now. They’ll be more robust in the end.
“You can’t quit,” Horn said. “If you help others ultimately, it really truly what goes around comes around if you do that you will be better off in the end.”