COVID-19
A Message from the Chamber CEO
| It has been a difficult couple of days, with the world reacting with uncertainty to the Coronavirus and market news. The Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce has been closely monitoring the outbreak and its impact on our members and communities. Our commitment lies with serving you and our region in any capacity we can during this unprecedented time. I wanted to provide you with an update on how we are responding. This is our plan as of now, but clearly things could change as new information arises. Chamber Events: It is important that our members remain safe and secure from any potential exposure to the Coronavirus- therefore the Chamber has postponed all of our events for the rest of March and most of April. We will work to reschedule as many as possible. Committee meetings will be canceled or conducted via conference call. We will be closely monitoring the situation and take any necessary precautions regarding future events and meetings as needed. We will communicate changes and updates via email and our website. Chamber Operations: The Chamber Office is maintaining regular office hours for now, with special protocols in place. We want to make sure that that we can continue to be a resource to you, so we have also taken the necessary steps so that our team can work remotely, if they need to. Coronavirus Information & Resources: We will be sending a special Chamber Online tomorrow with resources to help educate employers and employees on how to prepare for and address the impacts of the Coronavirus. It will include information from the CDC, State and the US Chamber. Tomorrow, I will take part in a conference call with the Small Business Administration, and we will share those updates with you. We are also developing a webpage with these resources and will update as new guidance and information becomes available. We encourage you to continue to monitor the outbreak and implement strategies to help protect your customers and employees, with the least possible impact to your operations. Lending and Assistance: The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering designated states and territories low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Upon a request received from a state’s or territory’s Governor, SBA will issue under its own authority, as provided by the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act that was recently signed by the President, an Economic Injury Disaster Loan declaration. We are working to gather information regarding these loans from our state legislature. Buy Local Safely Promotion: The Chamber will produce a special edition of the Member 2 Member newsletter this Thursday promoting what our local businesses are doing to allow the community to continue supporting them safely during this time. If your business has implemented new policies, strategies, services or products to serve the needs of the community as we practice social distancing, please contact Jodi Hartley, Marketing & Communications Director, at jhartley@sheridanwyomingchamber.org. |
| In closing, we recognize that you may be feeling the impact of this crisis in an immediate and profound way. We are committed to helping you get through this. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if we can help. I can be reached at (307) 672-2485 or (307) 751-2485. Dixie S. JohnsonCEOSheridan County Chamber of Commerce |
