Eighty-five percent of Omaha businesses say their top concern related to COVID-19 is “direct financial impact,” according to a survey by the Greater Omaha Chamber.

Respondents’ No. 2 concern was “potential recession” (54%), followed by “ability to retain staff” (29%), based on emails gathered in late March from 116 respondents.

“Clearly, businesses are anxious right now,” said David G. Brown, president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber. “But the data also noted just 16% of respondents were concerned about ‘productivity of staff,’ which leads us to believe Omaha’s business leaders are putting people first. Significant disruptions like this one present challenges that must be met head on. Solving challenges create opportunities. Working together, we can meet and beat this challenge.”

Resiliency, while not directly measured by the survey, was reflected in open-ended responses, the chamber said in a statement.

Brian Branigan, president of Power Protection Products Inc., said that he is “learning that it is times like these we learn to thrive again, and its times like these we come closer together as a team.”

– Greater Omaha Chamber