Mike Wolanin | The Republic Cummins employees walk in the Cummins Corporate Office building in Columbus, Ind., pictured Tuesday, July 23, 2019.
Some downtown businesses haven’t yet seen the foot traffic they expected when Cummins reopened its downtown offices but remain hopeful for a new beginning after the pandemic upended operations.
On Monday, Cummins Inc. officially reopened its Indiana offices for the first time since COVID-19 barreled across the state over two years ago, though the company held a voluntary pilot return-to-the-office program last year.
Currently, it’s unclear how many Cummins workers are returning to the office or how often. Company officials previously said that many of its workers will have a hybrid schedule, meaning that they will work part of the time in the office and part of the time at home or elsewhere.
Cummins spokesman Jon Mills said the company was not ready to say how many employees were expected to return to the office but added that Cummins would possibly be able to provide an update later in the week.
Cummins employs about 8,000 people in the Columbus area, including its corporate headquarters, which historically could hold up to 1,200 employees, according to the company’s website.
However, there were some signs of an increase in downtown workers on Monday, including reports that the Bartholomew County Public Library parking lot was more full than usual.
Before the pandemic, many downtown workers would park there and walk to their offices a few blocks away.
Library director Jason Hatton said the parking lot had been emptier than normal during much of the pandemic but recently started filling up again as more downtown workers started returning to their offices.
There seemed to be fewer parking slots available on Monday than last week, Hatton said. However, it’s hard to say for sure how much of that is attributable to Cummins workers.
“When I came in this morning, yes, it was difficult to find a parking spot,” Hatton said.
The return of Cummins workers downtown could have significant implications for downtown businesses that have relied for years on foot traffic from employees of the county’s largest employer and have fallen on hard times since the pandemic hit.
Before the pandemic, downtown Columbus was bustling with workers, who would pour out of their offices and into nearby restaurants during their lunch breaks, pop into retailers along Washington Street, file into fitness centers and take yoga and spinning classes and grab drinks at local bars after work.
But downtown Columbus grew much quieter during the pandemic and, so far, the jury is still out on how much of a boost the return of Cummins employees will give downtown businesses.
At Fresh Take Kitchen, 424 Washington St., the lunch crowd wasn’t noticeably larger on Monday, though co-owner Kelly Schwarze said she’s hopeful that Tuesday will be better.
“I don’t know that we’ve noticed a big difference versus our normal Monday,” Schwarze said. “I have a feeling that a lot of people are only coming back hybrid. …And so I have a feeling maybe tomorrow might be a better day.”
“This has been disappointing,” Schwarze added.
For its part, Thai Connection, 527 Washington St., started to see an increase in lunchtime customers last week and the lunch crowd largely kept pace on Monday, said manager Shanyapuk Wickersham.
“We’re getting better,” Wickersham said.
But other restaurants cautioned that one day is not enough of a sample size to draw conclusions and emphasized that Mondays generally are slower anyway. Some downtown restaurants don’t even open on Mondays.
