John Brocato’s coveted tickets to the Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament suddenly became void in March 2020 after the ACC canceled the tournament as the COVID-19 pandemic began turning the world on its head.

And as the chief financial officer of a small building supply company with offices in Charlottesville and Fluvanna County, Brocato had to abruptly stop thinking about basketball and begin thinking how his company, Better Living Inc., founded in 1893, was going to continue operating.

Taking actions such as keeping employees on the payroll was critical not only during the pandemic but also to lay the foundation for a better recovery after the pandemic was under control.

CFOs in various sectors across Virginia — from banking to transportation to higher education — faced similar challenges, although circumstances differed widely. And in a trend accelerated by the pandemic, CFOs saw their roles expand far beyond spreadsheets and balancing books into administrative matters.

Some CFOs were responsible for shifting their workforce to remote work, creating a new paradigm that had implications beyond the pandemic. But for others, such as Brocato, keeping workers safe at an in-person job site was essential to staying in business.

Brocato sent out his first pandemic-related memo on March 25, 2020, outlining how Better Living would be responding to COVID-19.

A few days earlier, company officials learned that Better Living had been designated an essential business because of its affiliation with the construction industry and that industry’s contribution to the nation’s economic security. Only two of the company’s 90-plus employees had the ability to work remotely. All others had to be on site.

“Our first goal was to make sure our employees were taken care of emotionally, physically and financially. Kids were home from school and parents didn’t know what to do. People were stressed, and we wanted to take the work stress off,” Brocato says.