UB School of Management offers insight on how WNY businesses can recover from COVID one year later How can small businesses work to recover? WNY Small Business Outlook Post-Pandemic and last updated 2021-03-17 01:35:49-04 BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) â Exactly one year ago, businesses like gyms, bars and restaurants, and movie theaters all over Western New York were told they had to close due to growing concerns over COVID-19 and the rapid spread of the virus in the days after the World Health Organization declared the virus a global pandemic. Fast-forward one year, and now, those same businesses are slowly being allowed to reopen as the COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available and the positivity rates around the region and the state decline.