But none of that progress erases the cold realities of 2020. Even as people fought the grip of the virus, millions of Americans, including thousands in Erie and Crawford counties, lost their jobs. Businesses closed their doors and thousands of area residents lined up for free food distributions. In April, Erie County's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate soared to a staggering 17.2%. The local economy improved from that point, but slowly. Efforts to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus left entire sectors of the economy staggering. By the end of March, Erie-based Curtze Food Service, which serves more than 10,000 restaurants and other food-service customers in eight states, laid off about 200 of the company's 800 employees,