Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been plummeting for weeks. The state's rate of fully vaccinated individuals is almost at 50 percent. And later this month, restaurants and retailers throughout New Jersey will be allowed to fully reopen with social distancing precautions.
And that could translate into a summer of record profits at the Jersey Shore, according to Ben Rose, director of marketing for The Greater Wildwood Tourism Authority.
But South Jersey beach-town businesses are worried the worker shortage seen elsewhere will pop up on the boardwalks, too.
With the Memorial Day Weekend opening of the summer season just weeks away, almost every Ocean City Boardwalk business is facing a staffing shortage, said Chuck Bangle, a co-owner of Manco & Manco Pizza. The story is the same along the Wildwood Boardwalk, Stone Harbor's vibrant main drag, 96th Street, and all the way up and down the coast, according to officials and business owners.