Hilltoppers,
Today I’d like to do a “State of Hilltop” update to give you all a look at how Hilltop is weathering the COVID-19 outbreak. Tomorrow I’ll be addressing the “state of the community”, what unemployment numbers look like in Mesa County and what our Workforce Center is doing to help, the increased need for services in our community and more.
Overall, Hilltop is in a healthy position, and by forecasting various financial models we will continue to be through the end of the calendar year. Hilltop has solid cash reserves to weather a significant financial slump. While we expect to see a dip in our cash flow, we are not in danger of being unable to meet our financial obligations to our employees, vendors, and community partners.
The CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) legislation that was recently passed, has many funding options available for small businesses. We are tracking those opportunities, but are not eligible for many because we have more than 500 employees and the fact our balance sheet is still healthy. This really is good news and speaks to how we have managed our resources to remain stable even in tough economic times. As mentioned in an update last week, Hilltop has received funding from the National United Way, Western Colorado Community Foundation, Rocky Mountain Health Foundation, Colorado Health Foundation, and this week the Family Resource Center Association. We are also actively applying for other grants and funding that has become available for COVID Relief.
In less positive news, I want to inform you we decided to permanently close Senior Daybreak in Montrose. We suspended services in March due to COVID-19, however that is not the reason for the closure. This amazing program has served frail seniors in Montrose for the past several years and had moved into a new facility approximately 18 months ago. Unfortunately despite herculean efforts, the average daily census rarely exceeded 4 participants, demonstrating the local needs were being addressed by their PACE program. This move did result in the layoffs of two wonderful Hilltoppers that will surely be missed.
In closing, I want to thank our Accounting and Financial team who continue to keep us on track, and to everyone for being budget conscious across all programs. Hilltop continues to practice sound financial management. We will weather this storm to continue to provide high quality services in our community that people have come to expect.
Together, we got this,
Mike
