Businesses forge ahead

Downtown Woodstock, Vermont, is shown amid a welcome burst of sunshine on Tuesday afternoon. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

Uncertainty and confusion are among the many hurdles businesses are facing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but chambers of commerce are working to help during these rapidly changing times. Guiding businesses to information about financial assistance is at the top of their list.
Questions keep coming in about assistance available through the Small Business Administration , according to PJ Skehan, executive director of the Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce in Vermont. Paycheck protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds are just a couple of examples that have been announced.
“We’re just leading them to the right resources,” Skehan said. “We seem to be getting more answers day by day.”
Skehan, who just recently applied for EIDL assistance for the chamber, said bankers and accountants in the community have been very helpful as local companies try to navigate various resources. The disbursement of those funds will take time, given that every system is dealing with huge demand from many businesses.
“It’s difficult to tell people to be patient, but that’s what we have to do,” Skehan said.
Local chambers have numerous links to resources on their websites. Also, many restaurants continue to offer curb-side take-out, and chambers have been promoting that on their websites to help these small businesses. Ways to keep business moving have been top of mind, since cash flow is such a huge concern.
Beth Finlayson, executive director of the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce, said the Woodstock chamber has worked closely with the Woodstock Economic Development Commission. Among the many efforts the EDC has made to help local businesses, Woodstock chamber and the EDC will soon launch a new website which will provide an easy way for customers to buy gift cards to local businesses, Finlayson said. Each business on the site will have a PayPal account to facilitate the purchases. Finlayson added that Woodstock has many supporters, across the country and the world, who have visited multiple times and care about the community.
“We might expand it to a larger crowd,” she said of marketing the website.
Meanwhile, businesses are trying to make it through each week, with a number of them offering curb-side pick-up.
“Everybody’s doing their best to make their business work,” Finlayson said.
She also pointed out that, during these tough times, many people are helping each other out, from volunteering to checking on their neighbors. “I love the little signs around that say, ‘We’ve got this Vermont.’” It’s the same story throughout the region, including the Hartford area.
“People are stepping up, that’s what I love to see,” Skehan said.
The togetherness of the overall Vermont community continues to be a strong theme, and each local community has examples of people lifting each other up, in ways big and small. Skehan, also president of the White River Junction Rotary, said the rotary had 150 pizzas delivered to the VA Medical Center recently. It was further proof that any gesture of gratitude goes a long way these days.
”We have some folks that work there, and they said would be great for morale, and it was,” he said. Vermont has a strength and resolve we’ve seen before. We may be surprised at the vibrancy we eventually see in our communities once this is all said and done, as Skehan said. He concluded, “When people pull together, it’s amazing what they can achieve.”  

— Gareth Henderson