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Business owners in Silverton struggle with fewer staff and tourists amidst pandemic

Some businesses haven't even opened for the season and others have limited hours because international workers can't come on visa programs

SILVERTON, Colo. — Adapt to survive is the Silverton way in a town where the nearest doctor is an hour and a half away over two mountain passes. 

“We are resilient. We are independent. And we are strong individuals," said the Executive Director of the Silverton Chamber of Commerce, DeAnne Gallegos. 

The old Victorian mining town in Southwest Colorado has a population of 580 people. 

Darlene Watson's dad moved her family here so he could mine when she was 12 years old. 

“When I walked in my class there were six other students and I said, is everyone sick today or is this it? Well, that was it! This was it," the now 52-year-old said. 

Watson owns The Bent Elbow restaurant and hotel and the grocery store in town. Lately, she's been doing every job at her restaurant from bartending to bussing the tables. 

Credit: KUSA/Anne Herbst

"You know being this busy gives you energy," she said while printing bills for tables. "I think it gives you energy. On a slow day, it’s kind of boring”

But right now, Watson doesn't have a choice but to be busy. 

She is missing two-thirds of her staff. 

“At this point, I can’t open for dinner which has impacted me because I don’t have a cook," she said. 

Her cook was supposed to come from Mexico on a visa program. Watson said she relies on international workers to staff her businesses in the summer. 

President Trump ended the visa program in hopes that Americans who need jobs could get them instead. But there are not enough workers in Silverton.

RELATED: Trump administration extends visa ban to non-immigrants, until end of year

The lack of workers is also found at the Grand Imperial Hotel where the co-owner, Jim Harper, does every job there. 

"It is very glamorous," he laughed while taking laundry out from the washer. 

Credit: KUSA/Anne Herbst
Grand Imperial Hotel owner, Jim Harper, uses a dumbwaiter to hoist the wet laundry to the floor where the dryers are.

When the hotel closed for three and a half months because of the stay-at-home order, three-quarters of Harper's staff moved on and never came back. 

Now there are just five people working at the hotel. 

"High tides raise all ships," said Harper. "And if one person’s willing to do it then you’re gonna see the next person willing to do it as well.”

RELATED: A southwest Colorado town has lost 75% of its tourism traffic. What it's doing to survive

People in Silverton survive harsh winters and wildfires on their own, but their economy still relies on others. 

“Because we are a tourism economy," said Gallegos. "So it is about outside folks coming into our community. It is 80% tourism.”

The train that usually travels to Silverton from Durango isn't coming this year, and Gallegos said that is a loss of 187,000 tourists from May to October. 

Credit: KUSA/Anne Herbst

“I don’t expect to make money here this year," said Watson. "I hope to pay my employees but we’ll trudge on, we’ll come back." 

Gallegos said she hopes when this is over that Silverton will become more reliant on each other. She said she would love to see more people move to the town, and said towns with at least 1,000 people can be self-sustaining. 

Already, she said the Silverton school district has received more inquiries from families considering moving than any other year. 

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