Starting a new business is always a challenge. Starting a new business during a pandemic presents a different set of obstacles, but Mi Element Grains and Grounds owners Suzanne and Tony Sutorik had the support of the community to see them through.
The Center City 3-in-1 enterprise opened its doors last June and has continued to conduct a steady business selling locally brewed beer, coffee and a rotation of freshly baked pastries. The Sutoriks continue to operate the shop themselves with no other employees. While they were able to avoid laying off staff with just the two of them working from the start, the arrangement meant long hours for the couple to keep the business running.
“Having gone through this (pandemic) at this time is not too much different from starting a business at other times. It’s just the magnitude of those challenges was a little greater, but so was the magnitude of the response and support…
