The Coshocton County Beacon April 1, 2020 | Page 4

4 • The Beacon April 1, 2020 Community leaders working together to help businesses and employees By Josie Sellers www.CoshoctonBeaconToday.com T he Port Authority, Chamber of Commerce and local Ohio Means Jobs office are working together to develop resources to help businesses and employees impacted by COVID-19. “The three of us are meeting daily and have discussions to make sure we are all in the loop of how to best help our community,” said Amy Crown, executive director of the Coshocton County Chamber of Commerce. Crown said the Port Authority and chamber put together a list of resources they are sharing online, and Sherri Gibson from Ohio Means Jobs Coshocton County is dealing with many calls. “We are staying connected and tackling this together,” said Tiffany Swigert, executive director of the Coshocton Port Authority. “More than anything we want our commu- nity to know that we are working hard for them.” The community as a whole also can help by sharing businesses’ posts on social media. “I am sharing each day as many local posts as we can,” Crown said. “Our analytics is really high, so I know the posts are working. Each day this past week I shared one way Theater Therapy to help a business or the community.” Crown emphasized the impor- tance of staying local, buying local and supporting one another. “There will be resources avail- able and more to come,” Crown said. “So many are faced with uncertain times right now, but they can help. I shared a bingo game on the cham- ber’s Facebook page that shows how a person can help without spending a lot of money. Try to stay positive and know that we will all get through this together and Coshocton is a giving community with many wanting to help in different ways.” Swigert agreed with Crown’s thoughts. “We do have the ability to show up and help our local businesses in various ways right now,” she said. “Grab a great takeout meal for your family. Support your local specialty stores. Purchase gift cards for later use or for gifts for others. Push out information for our local businesses on social media so others see them too.” Swigert also said they are working to open up some revolving loan fund- ing to local businesses for recovery efforts. “We are working at a state level to obtain permission to do so,” Swigert said. “They do appear supportive. We hope to have confirmation within a few days. In the meantime we are developing those plans in anticipa- tion that it is going to be approved. As Try to stay “ positive and know that we will all get through this together, and Coshocton is a giving community with many want- ing to help in different ways. Amy Crown ” soon as we are able, we will share the specifics. We will want to get this in as many hands as possible and quick- ly. We are pushing out information from the federal, state and regional sources as soon as we get them. Our website, www.coshoctonportauthor- ity.com, is updated daily. We are also then pushing out information on social media. The federal sources are listed on our website, and the state sources are still being developed and will likely be announced soon.” Gibson said Ohio Means Jobs also has been busy providing resources and information to dis- placed workers. “Here at Ohio Means Jobs, we have turned to social media, specifi- cally Facebook, to share information quickly,” Gibson said. “In addition to our usual job postings, our Ohio Means Jobs – Coshocton County Facebook page now has a link to the valuable COVID-19 Response Resources page developed by Tiffany and Amy, unemployment benefit information including the mass lay- off number to expedite your claim, the coveted password reset phone number, and information from the Coshocton Public Library about free Wi-Fi. We also continue to share information about temporary posi- tions, walk-in interviews and on-the- spot offers. The entire Ohio Means Job staff is working hard to help sort through these unique employment issues.” Community leaders are encouraging residents to support local businesses when and where they can. Pictured with their Shelby Theatres’ popcorn are cousins Jaelynn Hall and Izzy Fry. Their families supported the theater during a recent popcorn sell that had traffic lined up in the Downtowner Plaza.