April 24th, 2020
News and Updates April 2020
Chamber Chat, Chamber Golf Classic, Community Expo and Helping Hand Poker Game
Chamber Chat:
Tuesday, April 28th
at 11:00am via Zoom
We are starting a series of informative sessions, Chamber Chat, where you can Ask the Expert.

On Tuesday, April 28th, at 11:00am we will have our first Chamber Chat with:

Tom Spitz, Settlers bank
Luke Justman, Old National bank
Michelle Lawrie, Village of DeForest
Jamie Rybarczyk, Village of Windsor

Tom and Luke will provide information on the Payroll Protection Program, and loans/grants available to small businesses. Michelle and Jamie will offer insight from their resources and knowledge of assistance programs available.

We encourage you to tune in to hear their advice. Please send your questions to heike@deforestarea.com by Monday, April 27th. There will also be a chat feature through which you may ask questions.

If you have ideas for other topics you would like to have featured on Chamber Chat or if you would like to be a presenter, please contact Heike.

The Community Expo that was postponed in April, has tentatively been rescheduled to Wednesday, September 30th from 4:30-6:30pm,
at Lake Windsor Country Club.

We will celebrate and thank our businesses and organizations that have helped our residents through these difficult times and thank our residents for helping businesses keep their doors open!

Our Chamber Golf Classic has been rescheduled to Thursday, August 13th at Lake Windsor Country Club.

Even though golfing is currently permitted, we know that the social gathering aspect of our event is what makes it spectacular!

We hope you will join us for the 2020 Chamber Golf Classic!

Business Support with a Community Poker Game!
Supporting Hands Community Poker Game
For every purchase/receipt, businesses would give out a playing card to the customer. (cards donated by Tony Sobczak, Mousehouse Cheesehaus, Inc.)

At the end of each week, participants will show their hand, to win $25 in Chamber Bucks to be used at participating Chamber businesses. If you would prefer to give your gift card, please contact Heike and we will work out payment to you for those gift cards.

We would like to start this on Friday, May 1st and run it through May, during the SaferAtHome duration. If you, as a business, would like to be a part of the Supporting Hands poker game, please contact Heike.

Business Re-opening Toolkit
Public Health Madison and Dane County has created a  Business Re-Opening Toolkit  to assist businesses that may be re-opening to curbside pickup starting on April 24, 2020, under the new  Emergency Order #28 Safer at Home Orders
Alliant Energy Coaching Sessions
We know this is a challenging time for many small business owners. Alliant Energy believes in you and we want to help. That's why we've partnered with the Innovation Lab to offer all our small business clients free access to "Small Business Survival Coaching" for the next 90 days.
 
The Innovation Lab is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that specializes in helping entrepreneurs and existing businesses use creativity and innovation to be successful. Their experienced business coaching team will help you develop an Outbreak Survival Plan through a series of 1-on-1 sessions (offered virtually, of course). This service is specifically designed to help you create relevant solutions to the current crisis. Working with your coach, you'll: 
 
1. Complete an outbreak cash flow analysis
2. Learn about available disaster relief funding
3. Consider opportunities to create alternative income streams (online, etc)
4. Consider whether remote working is a viable option for your staff (and, if yes, identify the best tools to make remote working function smoothly)
5. Think about down-time improvement opportunities
 
Remember, this coaching is absolutely free for Alliant Energy customers for the next 90 days. To schedule a session simply use the link below and follow the instructions.

4th of July Community Celebration
At this time, we have not cancelled our community celebration. We are considering that it may need to be postponed, and we will determine a date when it is considered safe to all gather together.

When we are allowed to safely come together for our community celebration, we hope you will join us!