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Chamber Connection
SA NTA M A RIA VA LLE Y CH A MB E R MO NTHLY NE WS LE T TE R | FE B RUARY 202 1
Moving Forward While Staying Home: Chamber Continues Partnerships, Advocacy and Outreach During Pandemic While we may have (until recently) been under a Stay at Home Order, the Santa Maria Valley Chamber has continued their forward momentum in supporting local businesses and planning for the coming year. Our partnerships locally and throughout the Central Coast region continue to play a critical role in advocating for our business community. Recently, the Santa Maria Valley Chamber partnered with the other Chambers in Santa Barbara County to launch the “Safe Return to Work Campaign”, advocating that businesses should be allowed to open and operate safely while following COVID health and safety protocols. “The campaign was a collaborative effort that came out of discussions with local businesses across the county who were frustrated at the lack of attention paid to the economic impact local business closures are having on our community,” explained Glenn Morris, President/CEO of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce. “The campaign argues that the data does not support the Stay at Home Order we were under at the time, and that we can keep people safe while operating businesses safely at the same time.” In addition to a PR campaign, the Chambers also created a Resolution to Support Safe Business Operations, which was adopted by Santa Maria City Council
The Santa Maria Valley Chamber partnered with Chambers throughout Santa Barbara County on the "Safe Return to Work" campaign, arguing that businesses can keep people safe while operating business safely at he same time. at their January 19th meeting. “We applaud our City Council for supporting this effort, and look forward to seeing City Councils in our sister cities join us in supporting all businesses,” Morris said. The Santa Maria Valley Chamber has also remained active in their partnership with REACH, a Regional Economic Action Coalition uniting public, private and civic leaders across the Central Coast of
California. REACH recently developed community landing pages and a data tool that provides valuable insight into community metrics including workforce, jobs, housing and more. Sally Buffalo, Communications Director for REACH, says the community pages and data center tools are the first step for REACH in building a bottom-up regional Continued on p.2
WHAT ' S INSIDE : FE BRUARY 2021 ISSUE
Leadership Santa Maria Valley p. 3
Chamber Month in Review p. 6
Business Volatility p. 8
