The last 60 days have been a whirlwind of change, information, facts vs. fear, words and phrases that we couldn’t have imagined in early March. Now, social distancing, stay at home, shelter in place, and a myriad of acronyms like EIDL, PPP and PPE are commonplace.  It seems never ending and we are constantly bombarded with even more COVID-19 rapidly changing information.  However, the one reliable constant has been our chamber and an acronym not as commonly known as PPP or PPE, introducing “RRRRR“, Relationships, Resources, Reinvention, Referrals and Results.

Relationships – Over the years, the WOCC has worked with numerous individuals along with public and private organizations.   These decades of conversations and collaboration on diverse issues and topics have developed into meaningful relationships. This is because we are recognized as an organization with integrity and effectiveness on local, state and federal levels. These attributes have provided our access to the second R:

Resources that have been made available on a variety of topics, including most  recently on all COVID-19 related information for your business through wochamber.com, social media and via virtual meetings which takes us to, our third R:

Reinvention of our programs and events to virtual opportunities to assist your business stay connected and informed, while maintaining and creating new relationships. This leads us to our fourth R:

Referrals, a chamber staple; up front and center during a pandemic.  Your chamber initially developed COVID specific pages on wobchamber.com to assist our food and beverage members with the Restaurant Guide, Essential Business Page, and most recently with a page devoted to members with Reopening Supplies.

All these Rs lead to our fifth and most important R:

Results –The West Orange Chamber Team is proud to serve you and your business over the years and especially during this difficult time.  The results are your own success stories that many of you have shared with us.

Thank you for  letting us know that the PPP presentations gave you the information to properly file and receive  PPP or that you applied for and received the county’s PPE.  Thanks for telling us that your new product lines have soared because the chamber enabled a few key contacts, which blossomed into even more business.

That’s what we’re here for and have been since 1972; your reliable constant.  The Chamber will continue to focus on you, your business and delivering the 5 Rs.

If you have any questions or suggestions on what the Chamber can do to further help support you, please be sure to contact me. 

Sincerely,

Deborah Rios Barnes