Arctic Edge Ice Arena on March 29, 2020. (Photo/Taylor Morain)

ICE RINK WON’T LEAVE EMPLOYEES OUT IN THE COLD AMID COVID-19 SHUTDOWN

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EDMOND, Okla. -- Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Edmond closed its doors to the public on March 15 because of COVID-19, but the general manager is still working hard to take care of his employees.

He made the decision to close the rink nine days before Gov. Kevin Stitt announced on March 24 to close all non-essential businesses located in counties impacted by COVID-19. The rink would have been in an impacted county.

Darryl Rowley, the general manager at Arctic Edge, said he closed the rink at the right time.

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Another manager posted on the rink Facebook page and website to notify customers of the temporary closure, and Rowley tried to personally notify the rest of the staff.

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“It’s a pretty close-knit group of staff, so I was able to talk to probably 80 percent in person,” Rowley said.

There are 23 employees at the rink and most of them are students counting on their income to pay their bills, he said.

“Some of them have been with us for a very long time, and you want to take care of them,” said Rowley who has been general manager at the rink for 20 years.

Right now he is still able to keep his managers employed part-time.

“We’re just doing major maintenance items,” said Blues Fickenscher. “We’re painting the hallways, and we are getting the ice more level. We are doing a lot of things that we can’t normally do when people are in the building.”

Fickenscher who is the head of maintenance at the rink said the managers created a long enough list of things they can do while the rink is closed that they could stay busy for quite a while.

That includes starting some of their summer projects -- like taking inventory in their pro-shop and taking out the ice in one of the rinks -- a little early.

But besides keeping his managers busy, Rowley has been working to be able to pay all his employees.

“We have applied for a payroll loan to be able to pay everybody and pay our utilities,” Rowley said.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, The Paycheck Protection Loan allows Rowley to pay his employees and utilities for eight weeks, and if at least 75 percent of the loan is used for payroll, the federal government will forgive the loan.

Although it sounds great, Rowley said it has been a frustrating endeavor because the information required for the loan has been constantly changing. He estimates he has spent roughly 25 hours communicating with his bank trying to make it happen.

And hopefully it will all be worthwhile, and the rink employees will be back to work sooner rather than later.

“Hopefully lots of people will be missing the rink and will be back to skate,” Fickenscher said.

Disclaimer: Darryl Rowley is a family friend of Taylor Morain.

Ice Rink: About Me

ICE RINK WON’T LEAVE EMPLOYEES OUT IN THE COLD AMID COVID-19 SHUTDOWN

EDMOND, Okla. -- Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Edmond closed its doors to the public on March 15 because of COVID-19, but the general manager is still working hard to take care of his employees.

​

​

He made the decision to close the rink nine days before Gov. Kevin Stitt announced on March 24 to close all non-essential businesses located in counties impacted by COVID-19. The rink would have been in an impacted county.

​

Darryl Rowley, the general manager at Arctic Edge, said he closed the rink at the right time.

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​

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Another manager posted on the rink Facebook page and website to notify customers of the temporary closure, and Rowley tried to personally notify the rest of the staff.

“It’s a pretty close-knit group of staff, so I was able to talk to probably 80 percent in person,” Rowley said.

​

There are 23 employees at the rink and most of them are students counting on their income to pay their bills, he said.

​

“Some of them have been with us for a very long time, and you want to take care of them,” said Rowley who has been general manager at the rink for 20 years.

​

Right now he is still able to keep his managers employed part-time.

​

“We’re just doing major maintenance items,” said Blues Fickenscher. “We’re painting the hallways, and we are getting the ice more level. We are doing a lot of things that we can’t normally do when people are in the building.”

​

Fickenscher who is the head of maintenance at the rink said the managers created a long enough list of things they can do while the rink is closed that they could stay busy for quite a while.

​

That includes starting some of their summer projects -- like taking inventory in their pro-shop and taking out the ice in one of the rinks -- a little early.

​

But besides keeping his managers busy, Rowley has been working to be able to pay all his employees.

​

“We have applied for a payroll loan to be able to pay everybody and pay our utilities,” Rowley said.

​

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, The Paycheck Protection Loan allows Rowley to pay his employees and utilities for eight weeks, and if at least 75 percent of the loan is used for payroll, the federal government will forgive the loan.

​

Although it sounds great, Rowley said it has been a frustrating endeavor because the information required for the loan has been constantly changing. He estimates he has spent roughly 25 hours communicating with his bank trying to make it happen.

​

And hopefully it will all be worthwhile, and the rink employees will be back to work sooner rather than later.

​

“Hopefully lots of people will be missing the rink and will be back to skate,” Fickenscher said.

​

​

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Disclaimer: Darryl Rowley is a family friend of Taylor Morain.