First and foremost, thank you to everyone who participated in this week’s conversation! We will get through these times together; your willingness to share feedback and resources is inspiring.
Top 5 takeaways from today’s discussion:
1. While it is not business as usual with Town offices closed to the public; businesses and residents can rest assure the excellent services provided by the Town will remain. The only programs cancelled are parks and recreation classes. The Town (along with the other utilities) will work with all residents and businesses to ensure no disruption occurs with your service.
2. The Mayor stands strong on her support for businesses and WILL NOT mandate business closures. However, businesses are urged to follow all CDC recommendations to protect their employees and customers.
UPDATE: Please note, as of March 19th, Governor Ducey mandated the closure of bars, movie theaters, gyms, and that restaurants provide only dine-out options
3. Business resources are available on the Town’s website (gilbertaz.gov/COVID19) or the Chamber’s website (gilbertaz.com) listed under COVID-19 on each site. Various Facebook pages have been introduced through the Chamber’s website to encourage businesses to share ideas and concerns as well as promotional opportunities.
4. Following our call, the Governor’s office announced the SBA approved an Economic Injury Disaster Loan declaration for Arizona that will help small businesses here in the state impacted by COVID-19. Individual businesses can be eligible for up to $2 million through the program. https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2020/03/small-business-administration-approves-loansarizona-businesses-affected-covid. Interest rate is 3.75% for small businesses without credit available elsewhere.
5. We will be providing a link to a WebEx tutorial prior to our next call to make it easier for all to “raise your hand” to be recognized! More to come.
In closing, we’d like to announce our weekly calls will be held each Wednesday at 9am through April 15th.
You’ll need to register for each call separately. Here is the link for next week’s call:
https://gilbertaz.webex.com/gi...
Based on the conversation today, our next call will highlight latest updates from the Mayor, financing opportunities from SBA and banks along with tips on how to negotiate rents with your landlord. Of course, we’ll have the open dialog as well. Please continue to reach out and share your thoughts about future calls;
these calls are designed for you and we want to ensure we are covering topics of most interest to the group.
Stay positive and know you aren’t in this alone!
Mayor Jenn Daniels
Patrick Banger, Town Manager
Dan Henderson, Economic Development Director
Kathy Tilque, CEO Gilbert Chamber of Commerce
Sarah Watts, VP Gilbert Chamber of Commerce