SPRINGFIELD PROGRESS REPORTS

The Chamber has been working hard to remain a reliable pillar of support for our members and the community throughout these strange and stressful circumstances. Many have fallen on hard times as a result of the pandemic, but we continue to all work together in the spirit of survival. Folks have been stepping up in many ways to help each other and we're so grateful to be a part of this great and resilient community. Springfield is no stranger to challenges and we will prevail! We're striving to continue offering solid leadership and guidance, providing support and resources specific to the crisis, while also doing our best to forge a path of sustainability that will carry us through these rough waters. The resources page on our website offers a vast range of information related to coronavirus and we're working to update those as things continue to shift and change. The page is an ever-growing list of COVID-19 resources for small businesses including local, state, and federal links regarding safety guidelines and best practices, disaster funding information, remote work support, and more: http://www.springfieldvt.com/covid-19-resources-for-businesses. Our Support Springfield Project webpage remains available as a virtual platform for providing folks with the opportunity to financially support local businesses and organizations - community members can send funds and also access info about online shopping, gift cards, ordering take-out, fundraiser T-shirts through the Exit 7 Vermont project, etc. The web link is: https://support.springfieldvt.com/. We're staying in touch with our local and state legislators and our colleagues at the Vermont Chamber, as well as our local partner organizations, keeping an eye on legislation as things progress, and speaking up on issues that could have an impact on Springfield and our region. We continue to push for increased grant opportunities for small businesses, disaster funding for nonprofits and 501c6s, support for sole proprietors and the self-employed, and encouraging tourism funding to assist in the recovery process as the state begins to reopen to out-of-state visitors. There's so much information coming out all the time, it can be overwhelming and exhausting for folks to keep up with the news that is pertinent to their situations, so we have been focused on filtering through the vast sea of information, providing our members with clear and current resources, and ways to continue supporting local businesses and each other. Our monthly newsletters are filled with uplifting stories, highlighting folks in our community that are doing good deeds to help each other, online events and ways to virtually gather, updates about local businesses and future events, and any other good news we're able to find! Anyone who is interested to receive those emails can subscribe to our e-newsletter by visiting this link: http://eepurl.com/bdn2G5. We're proud to say that in spite of all the hurdles stacked against us, our Leadership Southeast Vermont program has stayed the course (with some logistical adjustments to ensure everyone's safety) and our twentieth class of participants graduated in a virtual ceremony on June 25th! Local leadership is more important than ever during a crisis and we're so honored to be able to offer this programming to these amazing people from across Windsor and Windham counties. Community stewardship is a value we promote, and we are so grateful to the individuals that committed their time to the program, even in these uncertain times, and our appreciation goes out to all the businesses and organizations that sponsored participants this year. Lastly, there are still tickets available for the Springfield Community Raffle! This annual collaboration supports the Springfield Rotary Club, Springfield On The Move, and Springfield Chamber. Interested parties can call or email us for more information. 802-885-2779 or caitlin@springfieldvt.com. We appreciate everyone that is working hard to ensure the strength and vitality of Springfield! We are all in this together. If we stay connected and help each other, we will all get through this! We look forward to recovering with all of you!