No matter the day or circumstances, the focus of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce is always and remains on our members and supporting business growth in our community. Right now we all face a trying time as we respond to the COVID-19 outbreak within our community, state and nation.
As in most trying times, we find out the resolve of our neighbors, family, friends and community.
As your local Chamber of Commerce, we understand this has been a very hard time for our business community. Most of us, including the Chamber, have had to adjust to new ways to continue our most essential work. And we want you to know – we are continuing to work for you during this time, we are just doing it from home due to #socialdistancing.
Why are we doing this? First, it is about people. We are working to protect our employees and our families first. We are following CDC guidelines and state guidelines to stay home so we can flatten the curve and stop the spread of COVID-19.
In an effort to continue our job of educating our members, all of the local chambers have banded together in a sign of unity to form resources for our business community at flattenthecurvesbc.com. Thanks to the Greater Shreveport Chamber for hosting this collaboration on their website, we have also partnered with the Shreveport-Bossier African American Chamber and we are speaking with ONE VOICE to give our members the most, helpful information we can provide.
Additionally, we have joined forces for a weekly member conference call/webinar to bring key stakeholders in the realm of business continuity to talk directly to you and answer your questions.
Let me tell you some other ways your Bossier Chamber is working for you. We are:
n Increasing our enewsletters to twice a week to provide the most up-to-date information to inform you and give you resources.
n Posting resources and information on our social media channels daily.
n In constant contact with our Congressional delegation, Governor’s Office, and Bossier Parish officials to make sure they keep our business community in the forefront of their minds, as much as possible.
n Contacting entities who are looking for workers to try to connect them to those who might have had to lay off workers. (i.e. grocery stores have needed additional workers while restaurants, unfortunately have needed less staff)
n Making calls to our members to check in on them, to see if you have anything specific we can help you with at this time. If you have any needs, please feel free to email us at info@bossierchamber.com. We are checking this email throughout the day.
n Sharing the needs of our local healthcare community as they work on the front lines for our safety, daily.
We have also created social media graphics you can use on your Facebook page to let residents know you are still open for business –whether online or by phone. If you are out of the office temporarily during #socialdistancing, we also have graphics for you, to let people know you are ready for their business when we can all return to public life.
We know you are committed to making this sacrifice with us to Flatten the Curve, save lives and help our healthcare system tackle this problem.
But we can’t wait to see you again.
Lisa Johnson | President & CEO of the Bossier Chamber of commerce.
