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Greetings!

In the book, Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do , Dr. Robert Schuller details the summer of 1982. Unemployment soared and the media had dubbed it the ‘severe and prolonged recession.’ Politicians used the depressed state of the country to their advantage since it provided a great opportunity to highlight the failures, shortcomings, and faults of the opposite political party. The recession ran rampant across the country until everyone felt its’ impact.

No one was immune.

Sound familiar? Today we are living in a world that none of us ever dreamed we would experience. Many of us in non-essential businesses have been working from home for four plus weeks trying to keep our businesses and organizations alive and necessary. Others have lost their jobs to furloughs or layoffs or saw a reduction in their hours. Brave workers are still working in essential businesses like restaurants, grocery stores, refuse and of course medical facilities. They are on the front lines providing us life’s essentials services that we need to survive in these very challenging times. Our staff certainly understands the devastating impact of COVID-19 on our members, their employees and their families. For this reason we have been calling each of members to check-in and refer them to our Chamber’s resource page: www.lbchamber.com/COVID-19 which has includes robust information for nonprofit and business assistance programs from the city, county, state, and federal levels. We hope our members are utilizing this resource and if you have questions, please reach out directly.

Like 9-11, almost 19 years ago, it has been amazing how the human spirit comes alive during critical times. This last week, three generous individuals contacted our Chamber and expressed interest in providing meals. I wish I could have seen the faces of those brave nurses, doctors, and healthcare providers enjoying a burger from the In-n-Out wagon at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center or a taco from Super Mex at Dignity Health – St. Mary Medical Center. What a wonderful way to support our front line responders. The Chamber has always thought of itself as the “Connector” in our community and today our role is more critical than ever. Whether our work is providing a meal for first responders or information for financial support to our businesses to get through this crisis, we want to help.

If you would like to provide meals to first responders or if you have questions about how you can assist our front line workers, please contact me.

We are here with you, we are all in this together, and we will all get through this together…

…and that’s Strictly Business!
Randy Gordon
President and CEO
Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce