EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine May 2020 | Page 19

Continue to rely on your professional advisors; your bankers,
accountants and consultants to talk you through the obstacles
you are facing. You are not alone and are surrounded with people
who care about your success.”
#6 - Do Chambers have a role in supporting the “Re-Opening
of the Florida Economy?” If so, what is that role? We absolutely
have a role. We have the ability to lead and convene varying
industries and public and private enterprises to discuss and
implement new norms for business moving forward. We need
to provide guidance on opening safely to ensure a strategic path
towards a return to business. We need to express the importance
of following guidelines set forth that focus first on health and
next on the return to commerce.
#7 - How would you suggest local residents and consumers
help? We can’t express enough the importance of buying local.
Purchase gift certificates to be used at a later date if you are
not yet comfortable visiting a business. Vacation “at home”
when safe to do so; stay at a local hotel for a weekend or a
week. Shop online locally for products and gifts. Support
non-profits to the best of your ability. Be respectful to social
distancing. Be kind to those we come across in conducting
business and provide words of encouragement to those
who continue to serve.
would be remiss if we didn’t thank our healthcare professionals
and first responders for their service and the front-line employees
of essential businesses that had no choice but to keep working
through this unprecedented event.
Nancy Keefer
#8 - Finally, what is your message to the business
community? Simply this, your hard work and
resilience will lead you to a path forward. Follow the
reopening guidelines that have been established
to help provide a safe environment for
employees and customers. The Chamber
will work tirelessly to lead the community
to return to some sense of normalcy,
but it will take time and patience. We
are challenged as a small business
ourselves and have made concessions
in our business model to ensure we
are here for the long haul to restart
and reimagine what lies ahead. We
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