Welcome Home Wednesday:
Virtual Summertime Grilling w/ Wegmans
Wednesday, August 5 | 4 - 5:30 p.m.
Have you relocated to the area in the past year to live or work in Tompkins County? Are you interested in learning more about what Tompkins County has to offer a first time resident or someone returning after years away? Are you in human resources or recruiting, and want to help your new hire get networked quickly?
In the spirit of Summer, the Chamber and Wegmans are excited to offer a fun and interactive virtual Grilling Demo for August's Welcome Home Wednesday. Fire up those grills at home as Wegmans' Chef Mike guides us through preparing a delicious recipe of Grilled Flank Steak over Avocado Salad. For our vegetarian guests, we will also be preparing this with Grilled Portobello mushrooms!
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"
Dine Out Downtown" w/ Downtown Ithaca Alliance
in lieu of Virtual Business After Hours
Wednesday, August 12 | 5 - 8 p.m.
The Chamber & DIA invite you to patronize the downtown restaurants and stores of your choice. Dine in or take out, help us make a big economic impact and wave hello to your Chamber Friends!
We encourage those who can to come see their Chamber/business friends and network from afar with an experience more interesting than Zoom at our desks. Visit your favorite Aurora Street, Ithaca Commons, Press Bay, or Dewitt Mall businesses to enjoy summer outdoor dining and shopping - one of the best things about Ithaca. Tables will be spread out at least 6 feet apart to comply with social distancing guidelines, face coverings are required when people aren’t eating, and appropriate sanitation guidelines will be followed.
The first 15 people to register will receive a $5 Downtown Ithaca Gift Card to go towards your purchase on August 12th! Participate in our social media campaign that night and be entered to win a $50 gift card!
All registration proceeds will help support the work of the Chamber & DIA.
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Movies in the Park 2020 Canceled
The Chamber recognizes that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the demands of hosting events, including new limits to total gathering sizes - which remain at 50. Additionally, other Drive-In Movie opportunities have recently been added in Ithaca. For these reasons, we’ve made the decision that hosting Movies in the Park is not feasible. While we know this is disappointing, we hope you understand we're working hard to preserve resources and ensure everyone’s well-being. We look forward to Movies in the Park 2021!
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SAVE THE DATE!
Annual Meeting & Celebration
w/ the Hangar Theatre (Virtual)
Thursday, September 10th, 6:30 - 8 p.m.
Please join the Tompkins Chamber for an entertaining evening as we celebrate our accomplishments from 2019 and early 2020, recognize our annual award winners, and share our vision for moving forward and recovering our local economy, together.
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Did you miss one of our L.E.A.R.N. Business Impacts webinars or Networking @ Noon Industry Insights events?
You can watch them all right on our website.
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Tompkins Chamber Joins US Chamber and National LGBT Chamber in Support of Supreme Court Ruling
by Aly Evans and George Ferrari, Tompkins Chamber Board Members
On June 15, 2020, in a decisive 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that the section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex be expanded to also protect gay and transgender people. The ruling ensures that gay, lesbian and transgender employees are not disciplined, fired or turned down for a job based on their sexual orientation.
The Tompkins Chamber joins the US Chamber of Commerce, the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce and others in support of this ruling as a means to combat discrimination and to allow our diverse workforce and free enterprise systems to reach their full potential.
Important Links to Learn More:
Keep an eye out for upcoming programming offered by the Tompkins Chamber to support area employers in understanding why this ruling is beneficial to them as employers, and how area business leaders can ensure a lasting positive impact on the local workforce.
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VOTE for Experience! the Finger Lakes! and the Finger Lakes Wine Region in USA Today Competition
Experience! the Finger Lakes has been nominated as one of USA Today Readers' Choice 10 Best Wine Tour Companies!
Each and every vote counts until August 10 at noon ET.
Help E!FLX & the FLX Region get to #1 and stay there by voting everyday!
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Smith Family Business Institute Offers A (virtual) Taste of Family Business
The Smith Family Business Initiative is proud to announce the (Virtual) Taste of Family Business series. Once each month, they'll feature a real-time experience with a family business and their product, be it wine, beverage or food. Each tasting and future pairings will be a unique experience with special access to each family business, their story and product. Registration is limited to the first 25 to ensure that all attendees have an opportunity to engage with each other as well as the featured family business. Donation suggested to support the businesses featured.
Thursday, August 27, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. EDT
Nova Cadamatre, ‘06, Founder,
Trestle 31
and Master of Wine
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The DIA, City of Ithaca and Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce will welcome these businesses to the area during a series of special outdoor ceremonies (weather permitting) starting at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 30. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at each of the businesses. “We are reminded by these ribbon cuttings that Downtown remains a strong, dynamic, and growing marketplace, even as we work through this COVID-19 pandemic,” says DIA Executive Director Gary Ferguson.
While the Chamber & DIA have begun to host ribbon cutting ceremonies again, they will be invitation only and follow strict guidelines. Please contact
Ritza
if your business or organization has need for a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in the next few months.
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Absolute EHS Creates Calculator for Choosing "Quaranteam-Mates"
A 'quaranteam' or 'pod' is when two or more household units interact
frequently
and
exclusively
and with relaxed safety measures with respect to COVID-19.
This worksheet will give an unbiased numerical estimate for potential risk while taking personal questions and invasion of privacy out of the discussion. This result can be used as a starting point for deciding if and how to quaranteam.
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Ithaca Children’s Garden, Discover Cayuga Lake, Paddle-n-More, and Sciencenter have joined creative forces to help families get outside and get out on the waterfront with some special, socially-distanced, in-person hands-on programs.
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Free Energy Studies for Businesses and Non-Profits!
For the next five months, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is waiving the cost of energy studies for small businesses (under 100 employees) and non-profits of any size looking to get a handle on their energy costs and transition to renewable energy. These studies, conducted by energy professionals, provide recommendations for reducing energy use through energy efficiency, and adopting renewable technologies for powering, heating and cooling the building.
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Develop Your Own Child Care Business: Become a Provider!
Presented by Jude Rose, Child Care Planner/Developer, Child Development Council
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 10:00-11:30am
Remote, via Zoom Meeting
Join us online to learn about how you can become a home-based child care provider. If you enjoy working with children, this may be the time to become your own boss! Parents are looking for child care in your area, and it’s not too early to begin planning for a program that will open in a few months. If you or someone you know might wish to start their own childcare business, this workshop is for you. It could be the best decision you’ll ever make!
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Updates from Ithaca College
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Tompkins County Officials Coordinate with Local Higher Education Institutes on Reopening & Reactivation Planning
Plans in place to address ongoing testing and health screening, contact tracing and monitoring, and community behavior and responsibility expectations.
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New York State Covid-19 Updates
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If Your Business is Open, You Should Follow Your Industry Guidelines
and
Submit an Affirmation to NYS Immediately
Please visit the NY Forward website using the links below to find your industry sector guidelines
whether you are an Essential Business, Phase 1, 2, 3, or 4
. We continue to watch for new Guidelines and advocate for clarity for those sectors that weren't included in Phase 4: movie theaters, gyms, bowling alleys, and more. We will provide updates when we receive them.
** NYS has issued updates to existing industry guidelines. Please check back occasionally to your industry guidelines to ensure you're aware of any updates **
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Ithaca Promise Campaign
The Ithaca Promise is more than just following guidance to safely reopen, but a dedicated commitment to the process. Businesses work to ensure they are doing everything they can to conduct business with health and safety of their customers as their primary concern. Customers and the community at large must also follow guidance.
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W
ear a Mask, Tompkins County! (Part 2)
Numerous partners collaborated with
Flair Communications
to create engaging public service announcement style videos to encourage widespread adoption of and adherence to face-covering culture in Tompkins County. The videos will be be shared across numerous social media platforms, websites, and email marketing campaigns by the partners and community.
The Tompkins Chamber, Visit Ithaca, Downtown Ithaca Alliance, and Tompkins County Area Development were funders of the project, with support and collaboration from the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County Public Health.
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Member Businesses with PPE, Supplies, and Services to Support Your Business or Organization's Recovery
Many of these members have additional items - visit their website or call.
Submit your listing
here
.
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PPE, Hand Sanitizer & Supplies
Cooper Electric
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Masks, shields, thermometers, sanitizer, cleaning supplies, stickers & signage
Ecolectro
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Local startup manufacturing hand sanitizer
Hickey's
- Face shields offered in 10 packs
Safeguard
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Masks, thermometers, sanitizer, gloves/booties, sneeze guards, custom logo items
Staples
- Masks, face shields, signage, cleaning supplies, and more
Business & Succession Planning
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Cleaning Services
Servpro
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V
iral pathogen cleaning & disinfecting, air filtration equipment rental, and other emergency or regular cleaning services
Reopen/Safety Planning
Absolute EHS - Environmental, Health and Safety Consulting and Support Services
Marketing, Outreach, & Signage
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Hiring?
Tompkins County has a resource for your job posting called "
Workforce Redirect", intended to match job seekers with those employers that are currently hiring.
Contact Workforce Development Board Executive Director
Natalie Branosky to have your business added to this page.
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July & August Meeting Schedule
No Admin & Finance or Executive Meeting
No Board Meeting
Ambassadors Meeting
Monday, August 10th, noon
All meetings require advance registration &
will be virtual until further notice.
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Have questions?
Our team is here to help.
Note
: Our offices are open by appointment, and our team is on reduced hours due to Covid-19 budget impacts.
Please be patient if our response time is longer than usual.
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