The COVID-19 pandemic has modified a lot about our lives in latest months. Though the virus has introduced quite a few unfavorable penalties upon our neighborhood, state, and nation there have additionally been some positives results on our society. One of which is the elevated spirit of cooperation that appears to be permeating throughout enterprise, authorities, and healthcare. That is most evident on the native degree as leaders are realizing simply how necessary it’s to work in tandem in an effort to fight this horrible ordeal.
Every leg of this necessary stool is working exhausting to assist the opposite sides get up. It has been extremely encouraging to see this play out throughout weekly stakeholder calls which were organized by the native Workplace of Financial Vitality (OEV). Throughout these distant discussions, leaders from native authorities, healthcare suppliers, and the enterprise neighborhood all convene to supply updates and insights about the modifications occurring in our neighborhood week-to-week.
In latest weeks, this digital setting has supplied a spot for necessary discussions to happen. One such merchandise has been the necessity for and distribution technique for masks. When Leon County labored with healthcare organizations to plot and implement a sensible coverage requiring face coverings in public settings the demand for masks at companies went up dramatically. As half of our weekly stakeholder calls, a plan was vetted for the Leon County Authorities to work with all three native Chambers of Commerce to distribute over 100,000 free masks to companies.
Earlier this week, these masks arrived at our workplace and have been made accessible to Chamber members for choose up. Our workforce was fast to assemble packages with 100 masks every for companies to make use of for his or her workers or prospects. Inside 48 hours, we distributed our whole allotment of 10,000 masks.
Subsequent week, the identical spirit of collaboration can be on show when the Leon County Fee meets to think about greatest use cash made accessible for our neighborhood by means of the CARES Act. The CARES Act was approved by Congress earlier this yr to assist State and Native governments reduce the monetary impacts as a result of prices related to the pandemic. As half of that funding, our County workers is recommending over $6 million in new enterprise help grants.The event of that technique got here straight from collaborative conversations that occurred throughout our weekly stakeholder calls with OEV. Together with different financial companions, our workforce labored with OEV workers to make strategies on how CARES Act funding may greatest be used to assist companies who’re in direct want of assist.
If authorised subsequent Tuesday, the Leon CARES Small Enterprise Help program will present $1,500 to $6,000 grants to roughly 3,100 qualifying small companies, primarily based on the enterprise’ quantity of workers, to cowl enterprise bills straight associated to COVID-19 together with worker wages, vendor payments, lease, utilities, promotion, and worker/ buyer security prices. With the intention of concentrating on companies with lower than 100 workers, County workers anticipates that there could possibly be over 5,000 native firms eligible for the grants.
Ought to the County Fee approve the Small Enterprise Help program subsequent week, your Chamber will remember to provide you with a warning of the small print on apply. Simply as we labored with the County to distribute masks this week, we can even work with them to ensure as many companies as doable can get their grant software submitted. Proper now, we all know that each bit of help helps.
Because of the rising spirit of collaboration between native leaders, the interdependent relationship between enterprise, authorities, and healthcare suppliers has by no means been stronger. You may assist reinforce that by sending a brief message to your County Commissioners as half of the general public feedback for subsequent Tuesday’s CARES Act dialogue. Allow them to know the way a lot the Small Enterprise Help program is required and the way a lot their assist means proper now.
To submit a public remark to the Leon County Fee, merely go to this hyperlink and choose agenda merchandise #16.
