NEWS

SOUTH TAHOE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NEWS & MEETING UPDATES

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE – MARCH 30TH, 2020

First of all, I hope all of you are staying safe and doing your best to endure through this difficult time. I wanted to reach out to our South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce members to let them know what the Chamber has been working on since this crisis began.

Even though we at the Chamber are working remotely, we are completely involved and working hard to do all we can to assist our members. Fortunately, we are well versed in video conferencing, so we were able to move to work-from-home mode instantly. With all that is going on our Chamber has become more involved than ever before at the local, state, and federal levels.

On the local level, we have been working with the City of South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County, the Tahoe Prosperity Center, and the Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce (the other Chamber)… just to name a few. The main focus in our talks with local groups has been on what we can do for our local businesses. Right now, with the stay-at-home order for California, we know most of our businesses are closed. So our focus is on how to promote the businesses that have been allowed to remain open, such as restaurants that are offering pick-up or curb-side options.

We are also planning ahead for when the stay-at-home order is lifted and the other businesses can open back up. One of the plans is to promote a large “we are back open” marketing campaign that will not only get locals back into our businesses but also pull back in the tourist dollars that so many of us rely on in Tahoe. We will hopefully have more on this future marketing campaigns later in April.

As president, I have been on almost constant video and phone conference calls over the past couple of weeks. Most of them are to gather updated information that can benefit our members, such as weekly White House COVID Briefing calls with updates from each department head of the federal government. Others are more focused on our local Tahoe area, including a weekly video meeting with leaders from around the lake where we are working to consolidate information and resources and get that info delivered to our local businesses and residents. Our Government Affairs Chairperson has been in constant contact with our State representatives and has been working to get as much information as possible that can help our members.

We have also been working on updating our COVID-19 Chamber website page with all the information and updates that our members need. The page will be constantly updated and is a one-stop resource for small businesses as well as the community in general. You can view the page at the following link: South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce COVID-19 Page

We will have updated information on our website regarding the new federal disaster relief bill that just passed and will also send out an info sheet to our members via email.

California Small Business Assistance Resources

State Treasurer Fiona Ma has launched a resource list for small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes resources from the federal, state, and local governments, nonprofits, and the private sector. The list contains information on grants and loans, tax deadline extensions, guidance on how to protect workers, and even private sector grants, such as the $100 million Facebook program for cash grants and ad credits.  

Click the following hyperlink to go to the page: Resource List
People Teaming Up — South Lake Tahoe, CA — South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce
Share by: