COVID-19 BUSINESS PREPAREDNESS SUPPORTING YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH COVID-19

COVID-19 BUSINESS PREPAREDNESS SUPPORTING YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH COVID-19

In mid-March, Henry County government and many of the cities issued orders mandating its citizens and businesses to shelter-in-place. By mid-April, the COVID-19 coronavirus had claimed three lives in Henry County and Georgia was ranked as one of the highest in cases of coronavirus per state. Governor Kemp mandated a statewide shelter-in-place and soon ordered the closing of schools for the remainder of the year. Throughout the state, most employers and their employees, including government and commercial locations, except for essential businesses, complied with state orders by sheltering-in-place. The shuttering of businesses across the state fueled the greatest and mounting unemployment levels since The Great Depression.

Classified as essential support for Henry County business, the Henry County Chamber of Commerce shifted its focus and daily operations to actively make a difference in supporting the specific needs of Henry County chamber members and the business community at large.

Message from the President

On March 17, Chamber President and CEO Joseph Henning released a Message from the President to assure members and local businesses that the Chamber would be closed to the public, however it would remain open for business. Henning defined the Chamber’s focus during COVID-19 on supporting local employers as its number one, mission-critical goal.

What does your business need to help in navigating through the COVID-19 & Coronavirus outbreak?

The Chamber released a survey in March that helped prioritize its business supporting efforts during the COVID-19 economy shutdown.

56.52% (26) - Provide access to resources & information.

52.17% (24) - Promote your company on social media.

23.91% (11) - Promote your company on social media.

26.09% (12) - Encourage use of credit/ debit cards to avoid associates handling cash.

21.74% (10) - Provide ideas on how to more effectively work from home

36.96% (17) - Promote carry-out/delivery options available to our customers.

The Survey

In mid-March, the Henry County business owners and employees were facing a new reality – the days ahead were going to be anything but business as usual. With the brakes slammed on the economy, businesses were forced to explore new revenue streams, and find them quickly, if they were going to weather COVID-19.

As the losses due to COVID-19 mounted, the Chamber released a seven-question survey on March 20 to members by email and online asking for feedback on their greatest needs.

Together4Henry.com

The survey revealed by far that the greatest concern for businesses was the need for resources and information. Within a couple of days, the Chamber launched Together4Henry. com, a website dedicated to aggregating information helpful to combatting the ravages of COVID-19 on the economy and the processes businesses must navigate to maintain basic operations.

COVID 19- Updates in Email & Social Media

The weekly “News You Can Use” email newsletter was placed on hiatus to make room for COVID-19 UPDATES, released on March 20. In a concise, quick-read newsletter format, the CV-19 UPDATE, sent to Chamber members, provides links to the week’s most important headlines and resources. The UPDATE’s open rates have soared as members look inside weekly for information researched and compiled with their specific needs in mind.

The Chamber began posting to their multiple social media platforms information to help businesses communicate their new business models, operation hours, daily specials, as well as community out-reach programs. This service was also expressed as a high-ranking need in the Chamber survey.

Webinars

Throughout the pandemic, webinars proved to be one of the most effective tools in the Chamber’s arsenal delivering insight about various topics of interest to businesses impacted by COVID-19. Topics covered in the webinar series included an overview of SBA disaster loans, comparing options and detailing how to submit applications, stimulus funds and how they impact taxes, tips for how to effectively work from home, actions to promote mental wellness while sheltering-in-place, and the importance of IT security for businesses ramping up a remote workforce. The webinars are presented live and then archived for playback on demand at Together4Henry.com.

In a webinar produced by the Chamber in April, Nicole Chapman, owner of Chapman Accounting & Tax Services, detailed stimulus programs and the tax ramifications for individuals and business.

Podcasts – Business Insight

The Chamber’s podcast, Business Insight, shared perspectives of several subject matter experts on current events and activities that emanate around COVID-19. In March and April, the growing market of Henry County podcast listeners learned how COVID-19 is impacting the efforts of the 2020 Census Complete Count. They heard for the first time from Dr. Lily Henson, CEO of Piedmont Henry, about how cases of coronavirus were expected to peak around the end of April. The entire library of Business Insight podcasts is archived at henrycounty.com/podcasts.

Piedmont Henry CEO, Dr. Lilly Henson, shared facts and perspective about the preparedness of the hospital facing a surging count of coronavirous cases in April.

Future-Focused Approach

As the world, and in particular Henry County, recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chamber remains committed to leading the business community. A task force working in conjunction with partner organizations and agencies has begun drafting a business recovery plan. This plan will include such areas as rehiring and retraining the workforce, resiliency and continuity, small business support, policy and regulatory, and finally, sustainability.

While much of the Chamber’s efforts this past two months has focused on many of these areas, the recovery of our County will require a future-focused approach that leads us all to greater success.

12 | HENRY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE www.henrycounty.com