Salem Small Business Convening

Dear Salem Business Owner,

I would like to invite you to participate in a remote meeting this Thursday, April 30th at 9:00 a.m. to update you on current COVID-19 relief efforts in Salem and to seek your input and collaboration on recovery and revitalization efforts for our community. This meeting is being jointly sponsored with Destination Salem and the Salem Chamber of Commerce.

Many individuals and small businesses in Salem have been hit hard by the onslaught of coronavirus. Between health impacts and economic impacts, we are facing a severe disease that involves all of us and the lives of many of our vulnerable neighbors, customers, and employees are at risk. We know that we are going to have to work together as a community to rebound from these circumstances and develop a plan, in concert with state leaders and public health officials, to re-open slowly and carefully.

From a recovery/revitalization front, I think one of the most pressing questions facing us is how do we come together to support small businesses right now, as there will be far fewer of our valued local businesses to safely re-open if we don't identify a way to provide assistance.

We are trying to assess what the key needs are within our business community so that we can figure out how best to help. More than 200 businesses responded to a business survey distributed last month and 46% of you told us you were not confident of surviving if closures extended into May. The primary concerns highlighted in the survey were cash flow, paying rent, layoffs, the health of staff, and inventory. You can find out more about the survey results here: https://tinyurl.com/salemedrrnewsletter1.

Knowing that we are likely not going to be "back to normal" in the short term, we have formed a local economic recovery and revitalization task force to explore relief options that we can tap to help keep our small businesses alive as we move forward. The strength of our business community is more than just a source of city pride and economic revenues - our local shops, restaurants, manufacturers, attractions, artists, brewers, personal care providers, etc. are part of our community ethos. You are our neighbors, co-workers, employers, and partners in what makes Salem special. We want and need to work with you on planning relief assistance efforts.

This meeting is open to any Salem small business, however advance registration is required. To register, please complete the form available at http://salem.com/salembizregistration. Note that all fields are required in order to register. The meeting will be recorded and made available to those in our business community who are unable to join us live on Thursday at 9:00 a.m.

I look forward to working with you on how we move forward together.

Best,

Kim Driscoll

Mayor

City of Salem