City Leaders Get Back to Business

Making St. Pete Strong

Mayor Rick Kriseman and Chamber president Chris Steinocher combine vision, straightforward planning, and a mutual respect as they work together on getting the city back to business as usual. Here’s a run-down of how it all came together.

PHOTO/STEVEN LE-THEE PHOTO NINJA

BY MARCIA BIGGS

It was March 12, the kickoff of the highly anticipated Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the start of the IndyCar 2020 season with race fans and sponsors from across the country fl ying in, teams setting up in the paddocks and press from around the world arriving. Downtown and all the way to the beaches, hotels, restaurants and businesses were anticipating the increase in visitors -- the city’s economic impact has been estimated to be near $40 million for the week surrounding the race.

But March 13, the race came to a screeching halt. That’s when the word “coronavirus” reared its ugly head with a sense of urgency never before seen. It wasn’t just the race that closed down. By the following Monday, it was clear that just about everything was shutting down. It was time for the St. Petersburg Area S t . P e t e S t r o n g Chamber of Commerce to jump into action to act as a communication lifeline for the many small city businesses.

Working closely with Mayor Rick Kriseman’s offi ce, Chamber president and CEO Chris Steinocher and his team launched a plan that would help local business owners through the crisis. He started issuing text alerts to chamber members, updating them on news and information coming from the mayor’s offi ce. “The grand prix was the start of a new world order. Luckily we were prepared,” said Steinocher two months later. “We had a lot of entities aligned -- the Grow Smarter program was in place, the Greenhouse and EDC, the chamber board, the mayor’s team, we all came together.”

Immediately, the chamber team got on the phone and called the chamber’s 1,200-plus members. “We wanted each of our businesses to know that they would be safe, we can help them get through this, relief efforts were coming.” Steinocher was invited by St. Pete Catalyst publisher Joe Hamilton to co-host a series of streaming videos aimed at supporting the local business community. “Coronavirus Impact Insights” continues to stream weeknights, 20 minute segments featuring diff erent business and community leaders from around St. Pete discussing their survival challenges. (Check out stpetecatalyst.com to watch episodes.)

At the same time, Mayor Kriseman established short weekly livestream “COVID-19 Updates” on the city’s Facebook page. The updates are continuing. Beginning with the current count of reported sicknesses and deaths, the mayor goes on to briefl y address topics of concern to city residents and businesses such as executive orders, safety concerns, and how the city is working to mitigate the eff ects of COVID-19.

Fighting Chance Fund

Mayor Kriseman knew the backbone of the city depended on small businesses. He established The Fighting Chance Fund on April 3 to provide emergency grants of $500 to $5,000 to support locally owned and independently operated small businesses and their employees. The fund is expected to provide support to about 1,000 restaurant, bar, retail, and service-based businesses and their more than 3,000 eligible employees.

“We knew we had to do something for our business community and particularly small businesses,” said Mayor Kriseman. “The Fighting Chance Fund could happen quickly. We still had $6.8 million in state funding from Hurricane Irma, so we decided to move that into this fund. We expanded Phase 2 to include more businesses. We are hoping to include another phase that will be expanded to include even more businesses.”

In addition, federal, state and county loans and grant programs for small businesses were announced. Calls and emails poured in – what about unemployment claims, rent and utility payment relief, safety concerns. Confusion was mounting. It was not long before Steinocher realized the need for a continually updated COVID-19 Resource Guide on the chamber website.

Indeed, the online world quickly became the norm for connecting and disseminating information. The chamber started hosting virtual meetings, webinars and online town halls with myriad speakers who could off er expert insight on navigating the crisis on everything from funding sources and medical facts to legal and fi nancial advice.

As offers of help started pouring in, a volunteer Business Resiliency Team (BRT) was established. Now in place, these “navigators” are business experts willing to consult for up to 90 days with small businesses free of charge on everything from crisis management and taxes, to setting up virtual meetings online. The BRT program is a partnership between Grow Smarter St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Greenhouse, the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, and the St. Petersburg Economic Development Corporation and is primarily funded by the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg.

“We soon realized the need to not only help our members, but all businesses in St. Pete,” Steinocher said. “We wanted to reach out to as many people as possible, be equitable, but we knew not everyone was online.” The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg was instrumental, he says, in helping to disseminate news and information to South St. Pete businesses. “For example, we printed fl yers on the business navigators and distributed them to businesses trying to reach as many people as possible.”

Restarting the St. Pete Way

In late April, as Gov. DeSantis announced Phase 1 of a reopening plan for the state, Mayor Kriseman uncovered his Restart St. Pete initiative. He convened a city team and 17 advisors (including Steinocher) of the city’s top business, civic, medical, arts and academic leaders to help establish guidelines aimed at encouraging all residents, organizations and businesses to slowly and safely return to life.

S t . P e t e S t r o n g

Part of the Restart plan is a call for adhering to The St. Pete Way.

“Restart St. Pete is all about the St. Pete Way,” explains Mayor Kriseman. “While we do get orders from state and county, we are St. Petersburg and we may do things diff erently … we look out for each other, we voluntarily want to do what’s best, we don’t need mandates. The St. Pete Way is washing your hands after you’ve been in a public place, it’s practicing social distance, but not socially distance. The St. Pete Way is keeping 6 feet apart and wearing a face mask that shows your respect for others.”

On the Chamber Facebook page, focus is given to businesses that reopen and commit to the St. Pete Way guidelines for keeping customers and employees safe such as practicing the 6-foot rule of social distancing, wearing masks, and following sanitizing guidelines. Business “Reopen Alerts” are posted nearly daily, with photos of local business owners holding posters proclaiming: “Open. the St. Pete Way”

“In St. Pete we want to build a culture of being healthy, but also a culture of compassion,” said Mayor Kriseman. “Everybody is stressed and feeling pressure, so let’s all be a little more patient and aware and practice compassion. This is the St. Pete Way, the way we are as a community. It’s why companies choose to relocate here. They see our quality of life and the values of this community.”

One tenant of the St. Pete Way is to support local makers and producers. “Remember there are a lot of artists in St. Pete selling masks,” adds Mayor Kriseman. “Let’s show off what an artistic city we are and wear one.”

Both city leaders express gratitude for the support they have shared since March 13.

“There are not many communities across the country that have the type of relationship that we have between the chamber and the mayor,” said Steinocher. “We are aligned on the same goals -- safety is No. 1 and the St. Pete Way.”