St. Vrain Market Helps Lyons Community During Coronavirus Pandemic

LYONS, Colo. (CBS4) - For the second time in less than a decade, the small market in the heart of Lyons is once again the central hub of support for the community. St. Vrain Market was a bedrock during the 2013 floods and now the owners are using profits to prop up others.

"When my wife and I bought this business over 10 years ago it was dilapidated, it was run down, and we both had full-time jobs. We had no business getting into another business, but we did it because we felt this town needed something that would help them be self-sustainable and be proud of," said Neil Sullivan, the co-owner. "It has become an anchor business in this town and I hope people would describe it this way."

The market sits on the west end of Main Street where Highway 36 and Highway 7 combine. Six-and-a-half years ago it was taken over by the National Guard in the September 2013 flooding to keep products safe. Everything would eventually get donated to help the town's people in need.

Now, it's one of the only establishments you can enter in town because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In this time of need, and similar to the flood, we noticed a significant need growing. We knew from the flood that the bills would still be there, the unemployment would be there in our town and that sense of need would be there," Sullivan said.

When numbers came in from March, he noticed how much the market had made and decided he'd take that profit and reinvest in his friends and neighbors.

"We saw that at the end of the month, our sales were much higher than anticipated. We knew there were people out there that could benefit from some of those proceeds," He said.

St. Vrain Market donated $10,000 to the Lyons Community Foundation, which matched the amount to make the "Lyons Shares" fund. Money will go to Lyons businesses to help with anything they need from payroll to rent and utilities or more.

"We're a small business, we're not talking about huge sums of money but we are talking about some money that can help pay some bills, or pay some debt, or pay some rent," Sullivan said.

Sullivan says he knows how painful it is to have a small business be closed due a catastrophe firsthand.

"What we went though (with the flood), our business was closed but the bills were still there."

Some people have offered to add to the fund, but he knows many more people are hurting and can't donate directly.

"The fact that they were already shopping here, gives them an opportunity to contribute to local businesses and help those businesses get back up on their feet without doing anything different than just shopping. It's kind of a neat way where people are helping, even though they're not in a position to help," he said.

The fund is accepting applications this week with the first payments to Lyons businesses expected in early May.

"We wanted to make the process for businesses to benefit easy and quick. What we witnessed in the flood and even some of the federal assistance now is a lengthy application and selection process. We want to get funds in, and distributed quickly," he said.

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