While COVID-19 vaccination rates are slowly declining in some areas, businesses like Platte Valley Companies in Scottsbluff and Gering are encouraging their employees to get the shot by offering two paid days off and holding branch contests.
President of Platte Valley Banks in Nebraska Zac Karpf said so far 42% of the 325 employees in the company have been vaccinated, partly because of the incentives. He encourages other businesses to motivate their employees to get vaccinated too.
"Really from a business sense, it also makes sense. It really does position you to have better business continuity, should we have some kind of surge down the road. The more people in your business that you have vaccinated, the better your business is able to operate," he said.
Amanda Otto is a general lender at Platte Valley Bank in Scottsbluff and appreciates the company’s incentives. Employees have the option to turn their two paid days off into two days of pay. Otto got her shot and said it was a smooth process to get her paid days off.
"I think it made a lot of my co-workers feel more comfortable coming to work, knowing that more people were going to go out and be getting the vaccine," she said.
Otto said she’s encouraged to know how much the company cares and believes in them and hopes other businesses will consider doing the same.