Ready, Set, Go Task Force to conduct survey, hold business roundtables to assess impacts of COVID-19

The Ready Set Go Task Force, a group made up of representatives from A-NPDC; Eastern Shore Community College; the Eastern Shore Tourism Commission, the ESVA Chamber, the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce and the Northampton County Chamber of Commerce, aims to help local businesses speed recovery, prepare for the post-COVID world and build resiliency.

 The task force hopes to accomplish this using a four-step process that will gather data and feedback from local business owners in order to create trainings and educational materials. 

“There has never been a more important time than right now to come together regionally in order to assure the survival, aide in the recovery, and to build the resiliency of our local businesses,” said Robie Marsh, Executive Director of the ESVA Chamber and the Eastern Shore Tourism Commission. “The Ready, Set, Go Taskforce is focused on achieving this very goal.”

The Ready, Set, Go Task Force will start this process by conducting a survey of local businesses looking at how business owners have adapted during the pandemic, how they managed their workforce, what their biggest challenges have been, how the pandemic has effected them financially and how they hope to move forward. 

The week of March 8 the task force will hold a series of five virtual roundtable discussions with local business owners, each geared towards a specific industry. The goal of these discussions is to review the survey data and foster collaboration between industry leaders regarding what they need to recover and what innovations were successful during the pandemic that could be used to build resiliency in the future. 

“Collaboration between local business owners is vital to strengthening economic development opportunities with shared goals and objectives,” said Evelyn Shotwell, Executive Director of the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce. “Partnerships created through combined effort builds a network of business leaders willing to grow and learn from one another.”

That information will then be used to create online toolkits, trainings and reference materials, as well as educational content at Eastern Shore Community College. 

“We are very pleased to be part of the team effort working on Ready, Set, GO,” said Dr. James Shaeffer, President of Eastern Shore Community College. “Our efforts will put the College in a position to better respond to the specific workforce needs on the Eastern Shore. We believe this is just the beginning and as your Eastern Shore Community College, we are excited to explore other opportunities for our citizens to find meaningful employment here at home while helping our communities grow.”

The final step in the process will be creating resiliency training for local businesses. 

The Ready, Set, Go Survey will go live on Tuesday, February 9 and will be distributed to local business owners through email by the participating organizations. 

The schedule for the virtual roundtable discussions that will follow is below: 

Monday, March 8 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Industry: Hospitality and Entertainment (Accommodations, Eats & Drinks, Experiences, & Related Retail/Services)

Tuesday, March 9 from 12 to 2 p.m. 

Industry: Community Services (Education, Health, Government, and Nongovernment/Non-Profit Services)

Tuesday, March 9 from 3 to 5 p.m. 

Industry: Agriculture, Aquaculture, Fisheries, Poultry and Related Manufacturing/Services/Retail

Thursday, March 11 from 9 to 11 a.m.

Industry: Business Operations, Business & Personal Services (Professional & Technical Services: Finance, Legal, Engineering, IT, etc.; Personal Care Services; Building/Property Services: Real Estate, Janitorial, Landscaping, Cleaning, Septic, etc.)

Friday, March 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Industry: Manufacturing, Trade, Construction & Related Retail/Services (Utilities, Non-agriculture Manufacturing, Construction, Property Services)

Ready, Set, Go Task Force to Conduct Survey, Hold Business Roundtables to Assess Impacts of COVID-19For more information about the Ready, Set, Go Survey or roundtables please contact Marsh at [email protected] or 757-787-2460.

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