Volume 1, Wednesday May 13, 2020
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As the President of the Sonora Chamber of Commerce, I would like to welcome you to our first issue of the Sonora Chamber Connect e-newsletter. This is a collaborative effort between the City of Sonora, Cole Pryzbyla, Director of Business and Innovation Assistance for Tuolumne County, Visit Tuolumne County, Valley Sierra SBDC and the Sonora Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of this newsletter is to be one voice to our membership and to bring current, pertinent information and news to you twice per month. Our mission is to promote and support community, business, and tourism through marketing, promotion and events in order to make the greater Sonora Area an amazing place to live, work and play.
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Stay safe and be well,
Katie Dunn
Sonora Chamber President
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Thank You to Our Gold Sponsors
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The Sonora 2020
Certified Farmers’ Market
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The scheduled opening day for the Sonora Farmers’ Market will be Saturday, May 30th, 2020 and will run through the end of October, 2020. So join us for a new exciting year.
Located at the at the cross-streets of Theall and Stewart, the Sonora Farmer’s Market is open to the public every Saturday morning from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.
The City is hopeful that we will be able to open the full Market on this date but vendors and customers will need to comply with all COVID-19 related restrictions in place at the time.
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Small Town Heros:
Dave Ingram & Thomas Moraitis
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The Sonora Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce that our inaugural "Small Town Hero" spotlight goes to
Dave Ingram
and
Thomas Moraitis
of
Chef Dave Cooks
!
located in The Crystal Room at the Sonora Inn.
Every week since mid-March, Ingram and Moraitis have been serving a choice of three take-out soups with an opportunity to pay it forward by donating to their "Soup Kitchen Program." With a team of volunteers, they have served and delivered over 1000 free meals to those in need throughout the county.
FInd them on Facebook
HERE
.
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What's new at Visit Tuolumne County?
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Visit Tuolumne County
would like to hear how your business is getting ready for re-opening and what health and safety protocols you will be taking to maintain a sanitary environment for your staff and customers. Our goal is to create a list of best practices that can be shared within the industry. We also want to be as proactive as possible in showing that our community is prepared to reopen.
Please take the survey by clicking
HERE
.
Lisa Mayo
President & CEO
Visit Tuolumne County
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Thank You to Our Bronze Sponsor
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Innovation & Business Assistance
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Cole Przybyla
Director
Innovation & Business Assistance
Tuolumne County
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The U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Treasury have not issued final guidance on the Paycheck Protection Program, but when they do the Innovation and Business Assistance Department will host a webinar with an SBA representative to discuss loan forgiveness.
In the meantime, I have been consulting with multiple CPA's in our region who have more expertise in the subject and I have compiled a folder of documents with advice/guidance from experts with information released with the CARES Act, again this is advice without final guidance from the Small Business Administration.
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Roadmap to Operating Tuolumne County
Businesses During COVID-19 Pandemic Webinars
Tonight, May 13, 2020 at 6:00PM the County of Tuolumne Board of Supervisors, Innovation and Business Assistance, and the Public Health Department will hold it's Weekly Business COVID-19 Update. All are to invited join in with registration.
During the webinar, attendees will hear from Supervisor Karl Rodefer, Public Health Officer Dr. Liza Ortiz, Director of Innovation and Business Assistance Cole Przybyla, City Administrator Mary Rose Rutikanga, City Councilmember Colette Such, and starting this week Sheriff Pooley.
The webinar will be held via the Zoom platform. Registration for the webinar is
HERE
Attendees will have the option to watch the Webinar via a Zoom Link, livestream on
Access Tuolumne
, on TV Channel 8 for Comcast Subscribers, and by a toll-free phone number.
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Stand for Small is a one-stop shop with resources, offers, and tools from a growing group of companies that want to help small businesses get back to business. Whether they’re shifting their business online or switching to takeout and delivery,
Stand for Small
hopes to help small businesses navigate the current climate.
Here’s how you can help
Want to get involved? Download the free, ready-to-use social media assets at the link below and share them on your social channels to spread the word about Stand for Small. Together, we can engage our communities to help local businesses thrive.
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New Business Directory for Status During Shut Down
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The Sonora Chamber of Commerce is proud to be a sponsor of a new website directory for Tuolumne County businesses that are open and operating during this time.
It is
FREE
to list your business and your special hours and procedures. Please add your listing and share the site with others.
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From the Desk of our Sonora Police Chief, Turu Vanderwiel
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Turu VanderWiel
Chief of Police
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Businesses in Downtown Sonora are moving!!!
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We are welcoming a new business downtown,
Sonora Fly Company
. They are open currently for online and phone orders with curbside pick-up. In addition, you can book guided fishing trips (with social distancing). Contact Brian for any additional information at (559)593-0550.
In other news, the
Aloft Gallery
is anxiously awaiting the opening of it’s new location in the Baer Building located at 105 Washington St. The larger space will allow for additional artists to showcase their beautiful works. If you want to support the Aloft Gallery, visit their virtual store with curbside delivery at
AloftArtGallery.com
.
Pink Zebra
is also on the move! They are moving next door to the storefront recently vacated by the Aloft Gallery at 167 Washington St.
Rustic Roses
has also expanded their business to a larger space located at 71 Washington St.
All of our downtown businesses are eager to welcome you back.
Please Shop Local!
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Latest info from Valley Sierra SBDC
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Howard White
Valley Sierra SBDC
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Due to Coronavirus and social distancing, we are creating an online version of the Business Start-up workshop: How to start a business in Tuolumne County. We will be recording it May 21st, at 8am for anyone that would like to attend this online webinar live, or we will provide instructions on how to view it anytime 24x7 after May 21st.
Please go
HERE
to register for the live workshop.
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Thank You to Our Community Sponsors
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Sonora Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 3084
Sonora, CA 95370
209-694-4008
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