A little more than three years after opening El Moro Spirits & Tavern in Durango, Colo., Dave Woodruff felt his team finally had the swing of things. As general manager of the contemporary American restaurant, Woodruff watched as his staff began to ace the menu and live the company's core values. That’s just about when the fire happened. In October 2016, a water heater caused a fire that engulfed a portion of the restaurant. After the flames and excitement died down, Woodruff’s first thought was how his team was going to keep El Moro’s employees financially secure during the three months the restaurant had to close for repairs. His next was that he really didn’t want to go through the growing pains of opening a restaurant all over again. “I was concerned that I would have to start over with a green staff and build the culture back up from square one,” he says. The restaurant’s controller came up with a strategy that solved both of Woodruff’s concerns. Here’s how El Moro and other operations keep staff during short-term shutters.