8A | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS BUSINESS BEAT 541-997-3128 290 Highway 101, Florence, OR 97439 www.FlorenceChamber.com www.facebook.com/fl orenceoregon www.twitter.com/FlorenceOrCoast September 12, 2020 From the Director’s Desk By Bettina Hannigan President CEO LEVERAGE - Maximize Your Chamber Membership Th e Chamber is your go-to resource. Are you maximizing your membership? Here are just a couple ways you can use your membership to help build your business. 1) Take advantage of Member Only deals and opportunities. Participate in the Chowder Trail and Glass Float Hunt in October and then leverage the Holiday Season’s opportunities with our “I’ll be home for Christmas” decoration con- test. We will be bringing shoppers and eaters all around town! 2) Request the membership list, market to fellow Chamber members with member to member deals via e-mail, snail mail, and personal contact. 3) Is your market homeowners? Request the relocation list, welcome prospective new residents with your services, off er them an incentive. Market away! 4) Take advantage of the Chamber’s bulk mail permit, send out a postcard with your introduction or special to the neighborhood that fi ts your demo- graphics. (Call Bettina, she’ll tell you how.) 5) Have your brochure or business card at the Visitors Center. 6) Get your event or promotion in the Chamber’s E-Blasts (sent out to over 940 people!), send 30-40 words and your fl yer or link to bettina@fl orence- chamber.com and we’ll help you get the word out. 7) Come introduce yourself to the vol- unteers, let them know you appreciate their referrals (you’ll probably get more if they know you!). 8) Check your business listing and make sure it’s up to date and communicating your products or services on Florence- Chamber.com. 9) Sign up for the Chamber’s emails. Weekly blast and informative updates to keep your organization resourced up! We like to think outside the box! If you have an idea, challenge, or opportunity you’d like help with, give us a call. Let’s leverage our resources and maximize your membership! Not a member? Become one today! Call 541-997-3128 for details. Th ere is NO excuse for bad behavior. As your chamber president, it is my job to SERVE. In leadership, I’ve always held the value that we will only have as much authority as we are willing to submit to. Each of us have diff erent types of authority; over our children (or pets), co-workers, volunteers, business and governmental positions. Each of us is under authority even when we’re in authority. Are we willing to submit to the authority and therein grow our leadership? Every month, I have the opportunity to connect with our community here in the Business Beat and I don’t take this privilege lightly. I hope that aft er the previous year’s articles, you’ve come to Business Matters: The New “New Normal” By Russ Pierson Chamber Board Past President Are you tired of that phrase yet—the “new normal”? It clear- ly suggests some magical moment in time when we will all be able to declare that the CO- VID-19 nightmare is over and we can return to the “old normal” with a few modest tweaks. But as they used to say on the X-Files, “the truth is out there”, and in this case, I suspect the future will be much more complicated than we can presently envision. None of us know exactly what long- term eff ects the pandemic will leave in its wake. But we can ponder the pos- sibilities. All of us need to be prepared for any or all of these impacts—even as 2020-2021 Coast Radio Corporate Underwriters Fred Meyer Stores John’s Construction and Painting Banner Bank Drift wood Shores Resort Th ree Rivers Casino Resort TR Hunter Real Estate Korando Dental Group Distinguished Sponsors Peace Harbor Medical Center 101 Th ings to Do Magazine Aileen Sapp, Broker TR Hunter Real Estate Bi-Mart Burns’s Riverside Chapel Christina Voogd, Principal Broker Berkshire Hathaway Spruce Point Assisted Living Lofy Construction Oregon Pacifi c Bank PeaceHealth Sea Lion Caves Th e Siuslaw News Torex ATV Rentals Be sure to thank these members for their investment in our community! know my heart and the authenticity I share in this forum. Today, we’re going to take a trip to the woodshed. I am extremely concerned for our community. Each of us is handling the stress of COVID diff erently and now we can pile on the upcoming elections and being quarantined again by smoke and fi res. All, creating diff erent levels of stress and fear. I am heartbroken to see honorable people rejoicing in being mean on purpose; our visitors being accosted by men afraid their picture was being taken (it wasn’t), our citizen’s cars being graffi tied and vandalized, people putting their fear, their politics and their anger above common kindness. Florence, we are better than this! I’m sure you’re asking, Bettina where does this tie into business? Aft er all, this is the Business Beat. Well, here you go. Your Chamber is a champion for a strong and vital community. We want our children fed, clothed, and safe. We want our citizens healthy, productive, and shall I dare to say, happy? Yes, I do. Th e bad behavior being celebrated is bad for business. Our visitors come here to build lifetime memories and family traditions, we need to be nice and (I’m going to say it!) assume they love Florence, too. Our neighbors may have diff erent opinions, that doesn’t make them evil. As I’ve said before, everyone thinks they’re right. If they didn’t think they were right, they’d think something else. How about we all channel a little Aretha Franklin – RESPECT. I know you’ve heard it before, but two wrongs don’t make a right. If you’re still reading, I appreciate you trust I’ll make lemonade out of this lemon. It’s gonna take some sugar! I pledge to you that I will listen to hear and understand you, that I will give you the benefi t of the doubt, that I will think before I feel, that I will agree to disagree when necessary, that I will do my best to be considerate, respectful and reliable, and that I will be willing to compromise when possible. Will you join me in this pledge to our community? I believe our businesses, along with groups and organizations, will thrive as we grow and continue to be the loving, generous and friendly Florence we all know and love. we continue to read the tea leaves mov- er’s body language going forward and accommodate the comfort level of oth- ing forward. Change is inevitable. 1. It is likely to be a diffi cult winter ers. 5. Our economy will likely take a as the pandemic waxes and wanes with various hotspots popping up around generation to recover. Th is will end the country. Schools may have to switch with the US swimming in oceans of gears multiple times. We need to con- debt. We can reasonably expect both tinue to improve our access to the in- continued cuts to non-essential servic- ternet, since that is likely to continue to es and higher taxes for years to come— be an economic and educational lifeline no matter who is in offi ce. Dust off that old strategic plan you for us all. 2. Th e fl u season will seriously may have in a desk drawer, and even if complicate things. Flu symptoms are you’re a sole proprietor, this is the time very similar to COVID-19, and the fl u to think through both the possibilities makes us more susceptible to the virus and how you might respond. Th e future and more likely to experience the worst belongs to those who prepare today. symptoms. Th is is the year to get your fl u shot. Businesses should encourage employees to get their shot, too. 3. Longer term, I suspect there will continue to be a necessary emphasis on cleanliness and sanitation. Busi- nesses might keep their eyes open for sales on touchless faucets, fl ushers and soap dispens- ers. Businesses that continue to advertise their ef- forts—and follow through—will have the advantage. `DZLjɞȶ Ȏɀʑ ɯɀ ɥDZȪȪ ɀȶȪȓȶDZ ɯɀ ǥɸɥɯɀȳDZɞɥ 4. We have Ljɥ ɯȎDZʗ ȥȓǥȥ ɀȄȄ ɯȎDZȓɞ ȎɀȪȓǫLjʗ ɥȎɀɛɛȓȶȅ ɯȎȓɥ ɥDZLjɥɀȶԬ been a high-touch culture, with oblig- atory hugs and handshakes. Th is will evolve, and it will be important ,AJ–ž, fn¹ žǡ to read one anoth- žĦĊ –ƃŮŮŏűžĩŇĠ ŏƃű ÿŏņņƃŇĩžƟ ƙĦĩĿĊ ĦãƘĩŇĠ ğƃŇǣ £ neJfA ,¸,fž–ǡ ,fžJ, enfžG n@ n žn, Gn]J&¿ –,–nf Ȯ JǪĿĿ Ċ GŏņĊ ğŏű Ħűĩŷžņãŷ