URGENT NOTIFICATION: PREPARING FOR BUSINESS NOT AS USUAL

 

COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. This statement is not to scare, but to impress upon you the seriousness and urgency of the situation. As Community Leaders, you have an obligation to act. While hoping for the best, we must prepare ourselves for the worst. This means taking necessary steps, logistically preparing to do what we can to mitigate the risk in our local community, while attempting to preserve as much of normal life as possible.

 

The Chamber has adopted the strategy to raise awareness and create a sense of urgency among community leaders, while providing you resources and support to guide preparation.

 

SHARE INFORMATION  

The Chamber has developed a web page located at www.orrvillechamber.com with links to local and federal agencies. Please visit this site and return to it often for updates. There are resources on this page that are specific to various industry groups provided by the CDC that you can use to guide discussions with your team.

 

BE PROACTIVE

The window of opportunity to make practical preparations is closing. Do not delay. Even though we don’t know yet how severe the pandemic will be, we must do what we can to prepare. 

 

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Don’t wait for someone to tell you what to do. You must take responsibility to make critical decisions that impact your organization. Use the resources provided and ask for help. You know your organization best. What are the critical and non-critical functions? Who are the critical and non-critical staff or volunteers?  

 

SOCIAL DISTANCING

The most unpleasant and disruptive mitigation strategy is social distancing. Defined as avoiding crowds and keeping people apart from each other, social distancing cannot prevent the spread of COVID-19, but it may slow it down, which has HUGE benefits to minimizing the potential devastating impact to our local community. Think globally, act locally in an attempt to keep the virus from presenting in our community. While social distancing disrupts normal life and may likely have a negative financial impact on your organization, the Chamber strongly encourages you to cancel meetings, events, fundraisers and gatherings of any kind effective immediately through the end of April.

 

This is an extraordinary situation with challenges that require us to be flexible and adapt in new ways. The Chamber is committed to being a resource for you and your organization. We will do our best to support you during this unprecedented time.