By Rebecca Adcock
As I flip my monthly calendar from June to July, the saying for July is “progress is impossible without change.”
This could not be more fitting as we move into the second half of 2021 and out of COVID restrictions. We have all learned to change with the times and that has allowed us to continue making progress.
As I look back at all the things the chamber has done in the first half of the year, it is an impressive list. The chamber operated an all virtual nominations, voting, and presentation chamber awards this year, a virtual Buy Your Love Local Market, hosted the public meeting for the Downtown Historic District, created and analyzed data from two surveys, conducted two Lunch and Learns with topics on grants and marketing, finalized our VTC grant and got our county maps printed, created rack cards and table tents to increase email sign-ups, submitted four grants and was awarded one thus far, and created and implemented the PCVA Business Builders Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs. At press time, the first cohort will have presented at “pitch night.”
The chamber was also busy with meetings and projects as we worked with the county EDA on their business recovery center, the downtown community block planning grant, workforce needs, and how best to help businesses. The business landscape is ever changing due to restrictions, employment shortages, and supply chain disruptions.
The second half of the year is filling up as events are starting to happen again. We look forward to continuing our virtual monthly Lunch and Learns with topics on Canva in July, the Citizens Recovery Program in August, and Workforce, Business Services in September. The Chamber is working with Workforce to host a job fair in August. The return of the Patrick County Agricultural Fair, all the great fall events, the Scarecrow contest, Hometown Christmas, and the holiday ornament are events that we are part of and look forward to happening this year.
Following the national trend of gaining new businesses, Patrick County has several businesses that have recently opened or working towards opening soon. The new businesses/Chamber members for June are Humana Health Insurance, US Health Advisor Kevin Galecki, The Green Leaf, Betsy Harrell Travel Agent (independent contractor for Kingdom and Cruise Travel, LLC), Breakaway Group LLC, Business Communications Consultant Karae Foddrell, and the Mayberry Trading Post.
