A Message From the Chamber Leadership
The impact of the COVID-19 health crisis has affected the entire business community. From switching to take-out only, to having employees work remotely- to having to temporarily close the doors: everyone is feeling the impacts of the situation. Things continue to change and evolve, almost on the daily and it can be overwhelming at times. Remember to keep an eye on our Resource Business Hub for the latest updates. Your Chamber is on front lines working for you. In that spirit, we asked members of our board, the leadership of the Springfield Chamber to answer a few quick questions in this time of great uncertainty and change.
What message would you like to get out to the community at large?
“PacificSource Health Plans and its affiliated companies are 100% open for business and remain focused on the well-being of our members, employers, providers, communities and employees. We have made numerous adjustments to our business to help ensure everyone remain safe and now have more than 1,300 employees working from home to serve the community. We remain in constant contact with the state to ensure access to necessary health care services and continue to partner with health care providers, employers, and our communities to serve all residents in those communities.”
– Kristin Kernutt
General Counsel at PacificSource
“NW Natural cares about the health and safety of our employees and customers. In response to COVID-19, we will not disconnect or charge late fees for customers who can’t make a payment due to impacts caused by the coronavirus. Customers will continue to receive bills and past-due notices. But NW Natural will not send a final shut-off notice and disconnect service.
We recognize that this is a challenging time, and we encourage our customers to call us. Our team can make temporary payment arrangements and help with other bill payment assistance options. Call us at 800-422-4012, Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.”
– Jon Kloor
Community Affairs Manager at NW Natural
“Bicoastal Media is uiquely positioned to serve the business community by way of delivering timely information to consumers. We are ready to help communicate updates and deliver timely information. In a climate where change is happening hour by hour, radio is able to adapt quickly. Our news/talk station KPNW serves as an avenue where listeners can stay up to date on all the latest happenings and developments. As businesses become ready to reach out with new messaging as they begin to re open, we will be prepared with low rates to help get everyone back on track as fast as possible.”
– Tab Davis
Marketing Consultant at Bicoastal Media
“Each day we see our community go above and beyond to help support one another through this crisis and I want to thank the individuals, businesses, and agencies working together on behalf of our community.”
– Mary Bridget Smith
The City of Springfield
“Oregon Medical Group is practicing social-distancing for patients and staff. We are committed to keeping healthy patients home and operating with minimal staffing levels to maintain standards of patient care. All staff and visitors to our clinics are screened for fever, cough, and symptoms at our entrances. We are utilizing phone encounters and will soon be offering patient visits via telehealth when appropriate. Patient calls with symptomatic concerns are triaged to determine appropriate care. High-level commitment to on-going patient-to-provider communication for continuity of patient care.”
– Nancy Bigley
Operations at Oregon Medical Group
“Lane Community College shares the community’s concern for the health and wellbeing of everyone in Lane County and our surrounding communities, however we also recognize the need for our students to complete their courses and programs-so that they are ready for work and transfer as soon as possible. Lane Community College is remotely open and offering our programs and courses via online formats. We have deemed our nursing, paramedic/EMS and physical therapy assistant programs critical and are offering on-site simulation/lab experiences with strict social distancing and sanitation protocols. We are also working to ready the college for the anticipated influx of Lane County residents seeking retraining that will be needed to put Lane County back to work when this crisis has passed. LCC, the community’s college, is here for the residents of Lane County, and we are working to ensure that our residents have a place to go to when they need retraining and retooling.”
– Margaret Hamilton
President at Lane Community College
“As a Springfield Chamber of Commerce who duly serves on your Board of Directors I want to assure the Chamber membership and Business Community, the Board is working diligently, along with the Chamber CEO and Staff to help lead the organization, the business community and each other through this unprecedented time in our national and local history. We are remaining informed, aware and dedicated to the required leadership responsibilities we carry to serve. The Springfield Chamber CEO Vonnie Mikkelsen and her staff are focused on distilling, synthesizing and disseminating all incoming information that is accurate, timely and as complete as possible. The board is listening to and over watching all of the issues and changes that are happening at a rapid pace. We are locking arms with all of you, together, to hold one another up in this very challenging season. We serve the Chamber membership. We are here to serve you.”
– Mark Molina
CEO at Molina Leadership & Business Development Solutions
“Mereté Hotel Management is working with our owners, franchisors, and associates to keep our hotels open and operating during this unprecedented world health event. Like most companies in the hospitality industry, we have made significant staffing reductions at the hotels we manage in Oregon and Washington and at our corporate office in Springfield. In some cases we have made the difficult decision to close entire hotels. In Springfield, the Courtyard by Marriott and the soon to be La Quinta Springfield are currently closed. The Residence Inn, Hyatt Place, Holiday Inn Express and Comfort Suites remain open at this time. Our associates continue to uphold all CDC recommendations for their own and the public’s health including practicing social distancing and rigourous cleaning procedures. We are proud to host medical, government and other essential workers who must travel at this time and do our part to support their efforts in our community. Should you or your business require hotel accommodations, or if you have questions about how hotels have adapted their services during this crisis, please contact Liz Dahlager directly at ldahlager@meretehotels.com“
– Liz Dahlager
Vice President at Mereté Hotel Management
(2019 Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce Employer of the Year)
What message would you have for business owners during this time of great uncertainty?
“The City of Springfield is here for our local business community now and will be here for you when we get to the other side of this initial response.”
– Mary Bridget Smith
The City of Springfield
“Lane Community College understands that in order to survive, many of our small and larger busineses had to lay off highly valuable workers. Like you, even the college had to lay off our some of our employees. In some cases, some employees will be able to return to work. In other cases,workers may need retraining to work in a more remote environment, and some may choose to train to work in other professions that are in higher demand. If you think LCC can help your business, I encourage you to seek out the services of LCC for your displaced workers or your returning workers. Our small business development center is there to help you with professional development for you and your employees. Our credit programs are there for those looking to change careers, and our non-credit and certificate programs are there to train workers who need to work in as short a period of time as possible. If you aren’t sure how LCC can help, please call Robert Killen at 541.463.6200 or killenr@lanecc.edu.”
– Margaret Hamilton
President at Lane Community College
“Take the time to learn about every available resource for loans, extended leases if rent or mortgages must be missed. Apply for every available loan coming from the Federal Government. If the money is used to keep people on payroll and pay the bills then the loan will be forgiven. The payback interest rates on loans will not exceed 4%. Manage your cashflow. Stay in communication with your vendors, financial instituions and employees. There is hope. This is NOT a PERMANENT storm. It is a TEMPORARY storm. We all need to keep messages of hope in the forefront of our minds. The courage it took for you to open your business is the courage you will need to pass through this valley. You did it before. You can do it again. We are all here to help one another. Stay in contact with the Chamber, they have up to date information.”
– Mark Molina
CEO at Molina Leadership & Business Development Solutions
Do you have any recommendations, or asks for others in the business community?
“Please be aware that Robert Killen is available to help with your small business needs. Please do not hesitate to contact Robert at the Small Business Development Center at killenr@lanecc.edu.”
– Margaret Hamilton
President at Lane Community College
“My recommendations are simple. We cannot control all of the external changes. We do have the ability to positively affect the internal response mechanisms to the constant changes. Do what is necessary to keep your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual energy up! This will help carry us through this time and the rebuilding process to come. No matter what happens make the decision to keep moving forward. Things will look different so lets allow the changes to help us change and discover new ways to keep our businesses alive and vibrant.”
– Mark Molina
CEO at Molina Leadership & Business Development Solutions
