CHAMBER SCOPE OF WORK

IS WORKING FOR HOW THE CHAMBER

OUR MEMBERS

Here is a recap of what the Chamber has been up to during the COVID-19 pandemic:

First, we have developed a number of tools and resources to help our members navigate the deluge of information on new rules and available relief.

Here’s a list of just the major things we’ve provided:

• We have held a series of webinars immediately following the passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) providing information on the new employee benefits and how they interact with existing programs. • We launched the “My Business Status” portion of our website providing all local businesses (regardless of membership status) the ability to publicize their operations. • We partnered with the City, County and Kern EDC to launch the Business Resource Response Team – the County operates the hotline and the Chamber manages the email. • We held additional webinars following the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) on the new programs available to businesses. • We developed resource guides on local restaurant operations, a thorough guide on business resources available, a fact sheet on the differences between the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Disaster Loan (EIDL) Programs, and a list of member lenders participating in the PPP. • We launched a series of videos on our social media channels by members on a range of topics, including finance, mental self-care, business continuity and planning amongst others. • We offered marketing webinars, virtual networking opportunites and hosted virtual committee meetings.

Next, we have been very active on the advocacy front, as a leader locally and through our participation in many coalition efforts with statewide and national partners.

To date our advocacy has produced:

• We opened discussions with the City on a phase one plan to provide small business relief through tax and fee deferrals and we are in active conversations with the City on additional actions they could take. • We developed a coalition of local trade organizations to support relief for small businesses, funding for healthcare providers, and payments to individuals as a portion of the CARES Act; our ideas were supported by the Newsom administration which forwarded our letter to every member of the California congressional delegation. • We co-developed (with the Fresno Chamber) a coalition of nearly 80 California chambers of commerce to advocate for universal nonprofit eligibility for the CARES relief programs. • We started a series of executive roundtables with Congressman McCarthy’s staff on stimulus needs for specific industry sectors. • We partnered with Mayor Karen Goh and to date have held nine roundtable discussions with various industries on how to safety reopen the economy. • We developed a White Paper from our roundtables with feedback and recommendations from local business owners and distributed it to our local, state and federal representatives and were successful in adding some of our suggestions to the Governor’s new regulations for restaurants. • We partnered with the Kern Hispanic Chamber to hold a restaurant roundtable with Public Health and our state elected officials to hear guidance and feedback on transitioning through the Governor’s plan through stage two of reopening. • We are working with the County to provide feedback on their plans for small business support from the County Relief Fund (CRF) Initial Utilization Plan provided to them from the CARES Act. • We held our first virtual GRC with Assemblyman Vince Fong and had over 50 of our members attend.