A Letter to Our Members from the Board of Directors
Dear Chamber Members:
Our businesses need you.
Our community has seen the crippling effects of COVID-19 on small businesses nationwide. Businesses have closed. Employees have been furloughed or laid off. Events have been canceled. Nonprofits, such as the Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce, have been hit especially hard.
The Chamber can work remotely, but it cannot disappear. Our businesses need the Chamber for information, resources, and connections to survive. The Chamber staff has continued to provide valuable services to our members in the virtual realm during the pandemic crisis with consistent, timely and pertinent governmental action updates, professional seminars, financial support opportunities, as well as quickly adapting the Chamber’s normal connections and networking opportunities to the shutdown environment.
And yet, the Chamber has also been forced to cancel various events over the past four months. We have seen revenue losses of over $50,000, and those losses will continue to increase over the next several months. With the potential loss of the annual Chili Cook-off revenue, the impact to the Chamber will potentially be over $100,000, accounting for approximately 35% of the Chamber’s operating budget.
The Chamber needs our member’s support and continued investment in order to continue our mission of “Advancing Business, Supporting Community.”
Ways to support the Chamber:
· Continue your membership investment with the Chamber.
· Follow our social media pages on Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.
· Engage with and share our posts and messages via social media.
· Invite outside business members to events and/or to become members.
· Attend online and in-person events as they allow.
· Be a speaker for one of the Chamber webinars, Lunch & Learn or Young Professional events.
· Sponsor or make donations to a future Chamber event.
· Reach out and ask the Chamber what you can do for them!
Sincerely,
Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
Executive Committee:
Edmond Brown (Chairperson; ELB Enterprises, LLC.), Kevin Vick (Chairperson-Elect; Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C.), Amy Richter (1st Vice-Chairperson; Hospice of Southern Illinois), Mary Lamie (2nd Vice-Chairperson; Bi-State Development), Mike McManus (Immediate Past Chairperson; Memorial Hospital)
Board Members:
Lisa Adams (Adams Publications), Jeff Bair (Grimm & Gorly Florist and POUR@322), Brett Baltz (Egyptian Workspace Partners), Ryan Boike (Belleville School District #118), Mayor Mark Eckert (City of Belleville), Jerril Jones (Center for Racial Harmony), Dan Lovekamp (Auffenburg Dealer Group of Illinois), Tracy McCollum (Standard Rule Promotions), Brian Mentzer (Belleville Township High School District #201), Kayla Mitchell (Scheffel Boyle), Paula Nixon (Ameren Illinois), David Nosacka (HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital), Jessica Orelt (Allstate Insurance), Scott Schanuel (Holland Construction Services), Ron Stephens (Bank of Belleville), Ben Wanless (Commerce Bank)
