Page 9 - BusinessWest November 24, 2021

your typical networking event setting, but it worked, serving as an example of thinking outside the box and making needed adjustments to how things are normally done, Barone said.
Making adjustments at events — and conducting fewer events overall — while also making due with smaller staffs, and often one person, are just some of the changes area cham-
bers have been making since COVID changed the landscape.
“It has certainly not been easy, and chambers have to do more with less now,” Creed said. “But that’s not neces- sarily a bad thing — I think that’s just business, and everyone needs to learn how to do that.”
Overall, most chambers have handled the adjustments they’ve had to make. There have been cutbacks
in staffing for many of the agencies
— again, through attrition and some cuts — and other forms of downsizing. But while chambers have closed and merged in other parts of the country and even other parts of this state, all of the chambers in the 413 have kept
“It was really important
to me to become a more inclusive organization, fostering not only our current members, but growing that and extending that into the Hispanic business community, which has really not had the
same opportunities that the chamber has offered to other businesses.”
their names and their identities.
That’s not to say there weren’t some
precarious times. Indeed, when Kate Phelon, the long-time executive direc- tor of the Greater Westfield Chamber
of Commerce, announced she would retire at the end of 2020, a search for a successor commenced that September. It was halted a few months later amid some concerns about the chamber’s future — and fiscal concerns stemming from the pandemic — but then started again as arrangements were made to collect past-due membership fees and take other steps to put the agency on solid financial footing.
“Dues started coming in, and peo- ple started getting creative about get- ting businesses into the chamber,” said Eric Oulette, who would eventually become that successor, adding that, today, membership is solid, at nearly 240 members, or roughly where things
stood before the pandemic, with the ambitious goal of getting to 300 in the months to come.
He’s confident the chamber can continue adding members and per- haps reach that lofty goal because of the value it has put on display during the pandemic, especially as a resource to members looking for needed information and guidance on relief programs.
Barone agreed. “We’ve been climb- ing higher and adding new members since I’ve come onboard,” she said, adding that the numbers have been steady and the chamber is on solid ground moving forward.
At the Holyoke Chamber, amid sev- eral changes in leadership, the agency fell out of view of many business own- ers and needed to not only rebrand but reintroduce itself to the business com- munity and in some ways even rein- vent itself. And Hart, because of her long tenure with the organization and familiarity with many of the business owners, thought she was in a position to orchestrate what could be called a turnaround.
“I thought I was in a position to really rebrand us and make it known that we’re here to help the community, because there was talk that the cham- ber was idle,” she told BusinessWest.
“We were administering grants, but other than that, we had a very idle pan- demic, so I took that opportunity last spring to rebrand us, with a new logo, new website, and new dues structure.”
The more significant aspect of what she is calling a ‘renaissance’ for this chamber is its efforts to promote inclu- sion and broaden the membership base by putting out a proverbial wel- come mat to Hispanic business own- ers. It is doing this through a number of vehicles, including everything from diversity, equity, and inclusion semi- nars to complementary Spanish classes (Hart is taking one herself ) and English classes as well.
THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The City of Springfield is requesting proposals for the use of American Rescue Plan Act funds in the following categories: Small Businesses, New Businesses, and Nonprofits. The RFPs are available at 70 Tapley Street in Springfield, and through the City’s website: www.springfield-ma.gov/finance/arpa.
Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis, starting November 1, with qualified respondents receiving grants to address negative health and/or economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Interested parties are strongly encouraged to apply. Please be advised that additional RFPs will be issued in the near future for Households, Seniors, Job Creation/Economic Development, Housing Redevelopment, and Public Space/Capital Improvements.
La Ciudad de Springfield está solicitando propuestas para el uso de los fondos de la Ley del Plan de Rescate Americano en las siguientes categorías: Pequeñas empresas, Nuevos negocios y Organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Las RFP están disponibles en 70 Tapley Street en Springfield, y a través del sitio web de la Ciudad: www.springfield-ma.gov/finance/arpa.
Las propuestas se aceptarán de manera continua, a partir del 1 de noviembre,
y los participantes calificados recibirán becas para abordar los impactos negativos para la salud y/o económicos de la pandemia de COVID-19. Se recomienda encarecidamente a las partes interesadas que presenten su solicitud. Por favor tenga en cuenta que se emitirán RFP adicionales en un futuro cercano para hogares, personas mayores, creación de empleo/ desarrollo económico, reconstrucción de viviendas y mejoras del espacio público/ capital.
FEATURE
NOVEMBER 24, 2021 9
BusinessWest