COVID 19 Updates

Sep

Weekly Roundup 9/11/2020

Will Burns on Friday, September 11, 2020 at 12:00:00 am

Expanding PPP to 501(c)(6) Organizations

Our partners at ASAE have a new sign-on letter urging Congress to expand Paycheck Protection Program eligibility to 501(c)(6) organizations. It also calls for the following PPP-related provisions:

Reauthorize until at least March 31, 2021;
Include 501(c)(6) nonprofits in the so-called “second draw” program;
Expand the definition for eligible “receipts” within the “second draw” program to include in-person event cancellations and lost revenue from certification programs and other education; and
Apply lobbying language as outlined in Section 90001 of the HEROES Act and included in the broadly bipartisan Local Chamber, Tourism, and 501(c)(6) Protection Act of 2020 (H.R. 6697).

The deadline to join this letter is Monday, September 14. Add your chamber today.

#ChamberStrong COVID Examples

Congress remains deadlocked, but chambers of commerce across the country continue to create partnerships and find creative ways to support their communities through the COVID crisis.

Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce launched a community partnership to support local restaurants and feed hungry kids.
The Aurora Regional Chamber partnered with Invest Aurora to launch the Business Implications Survey, the second survey aimed at measuring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on area businesses.
The Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce is administering another round of its Chamber Cares Small Business Grant program, with funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce.
A coalition of health care and business leaders in Detroit recently launched the Rona 4 Real campaign to spread awareness of the seriousness of COVID-19 to Michigan’s young adults, ages 18-29.
The Manatee Chamber of Commerce is helping to build awareness within its community on the various grants available to help businesses, individuals and nonprofits tap into federal CAREs act dollars to benefit the local recovery.
McLean County Chamber is helping local businesses by distributing donated personal protective equipment to help keep them COVID-compliant.

Chamber's Maintain Focus on DEI

In the most recent edition of Chamber Executive magazine, we focused on some of the ways chambers are working to address racial equity. Here are a few more recent examples we've come across.

The Greenville Chamber, working with other community stakeholders, launched the Greenville Racial Equity and Economic Mobility Commission, a group of 35 leaders working to "implement significant change in the areas of racial inequities, social justice, and other key gaps identified as focus areas of the Black community."
The Quad Cities Chamber highlighted diversity, equity and inclusion during its virtual annual meeting and launched a DEI toolkit to provide member businesses with a framework for action.
San Angelo Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Walt Koenig recently published an op-ed to outline why the chamber’s board supports and encourages all community businesses to practice diversity, inclusion and equity in daily operations, hiring, development, and promotion decisions.
The Greensboro Chamber’s State of Our Community event focused on COVID-19 recovery and how the community must address racial and economic divides as part of the recovery process.
The United States recently celebrated the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance focused an episode of its podcast on renewing “The Dream” through educational equity, inclusive entrepreneurship and economic access.