In The Know
The Weekly Newsletter of
The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce   



Friday, February 12, 2021
This Week's Featured Video

How Love Stories Ruin Our Love Lives
They're Not Just Entertaining Us

In honor of Valentine's Day (or maybe in spite of Valentine's Day), we offer this video from The School of Life: "The love stories we read and see are often hugely unhelpful to our chances of having satisfying relationships, for the expectations they raise are as naïve as they are cruel."
SBA Launches New Round of EIDL Funds

The SBA is launching a new round of Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advances - called Targeted EIDL Advance - which provides eligible businesses with $10,000 in total grant assistance. If you received the EIDL Advance last year in an amount less than $10,000, and you meet the Targeted EIDL Advance eligibility requirements, you may be eligible to receive the difference up to the full $10,000. The combined amount of the Targeted EIDL Advance and any previously received Advance will not exceed $10,000. Click below to view a complete fact sheet and click here to visit the Chamber's Covid Resource Page.


GOVERNOR DEWINE PRESS CONFERENCE UPDATES FROM FEBRUARY 11TH, 2021

Below are the updates from Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted’s latest press conference. The next press conference is currently scheduled for Tuesday, February 16th, at 2:00 P.M. You may view it on the WTOV9 website.

FOR A COMPLETE COPY OF THE GOVERNOR'S LATEST ADDENDUM THAT WAS SIGNED YESTERDAY PERTAINING TO SELF-SERVICE FOOD IN RESTAURANTS, BARS, BANQUET HALLS & CATERING FACILITIES, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
 
  • Ohio’s COVID-19 case data is below:
  • 805,971confirmed cases
  • 125,466 probable cases 
  • 931,437 total cases
  • 48,269 hospitalizations
  • 11,104 confirmed deaths
  • 1,473 probable deaths
  • 11,793 total deaths
  • 6,908 ICU admissions 
  • 848,058 presumed recovered
  • More data is available on the COVID-19 Dashboard HERE. 

VACCINE DISTRIBUTION UPDATE
  • Governor DeWine announced today that Ohio received a total of 214,525 first doses of vaccine this week.
  • A total of 223,025 first doses are scheduled to arrive in Ohio during the week of February 15.
 
  • The federal retail pharmacy program will soon begin allotting doses to Ohio's more than 160 Rite Aid pharmacies.
  • Vaccine distribution will also expand into all 194 Kroger pharmacies.
 
  • Those with specific medical conditions that put them at a very high risk of dying from COVID-19 will be eligible for vaccinations next week.
 
  • Ohioans born with the medical conditions outlined, or those who were diagnosed in early childhood whose conditions continued into adulthood, will qualify to be vaccinated beginning on February 15.
 
  • Approximately 12,000 individuals with these severe medical conditions and developmental disabilities have already been vaccinated, and vaccinations of those in this group will continue
 
NURSING HOME CASES
  • Governor DeWine announced today that the number of COVID-19 cases in Ohio's nursing homes has dropped more than 77 percent since late November.
  • This dramatic drop in cases follows Ohio's aggressive efforts to vaccinate residents and staff in Ohio's long-term care facilities.
 
  • As outlined in the attached chart, there were 2,697 COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities in Ohio during the week of November 29, 2021.
  • During the week of January 17, there were 612 positive cases.
 
SCHOOL MODEL UPDATE
  • Governor DeWine shared the latest information on the number of school districts that are physically in school versus those that are fully or partially remote.
 
  • As a condition to receive priority access to the vaccine, schools were required to commit to full or partial in-person learning by March 1.
  • All but one school district in Ohio have committed to this plan.
 
OHIO PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY SYSTEM
  • There was no change in this week's Ohio Public Health Advisory System map.
 
  • A county-by-county breakdown outlining the presence of COVID-19 in all of Ohio's 88 counties can be found on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System's website.
 
APPRENTICEOHO MILESTONE
  • Lt. Governor Husted shared that the ApprenticeOhio program has reached an important milestone.
  • More than 5,000 Ohioans have officially graduated from the ApprenticeOhio program since the start of the DeWine-Husted Administration.
 
  • Ohio is currently ranked number one among states who run registered apprenticeships at the state level, and number four among states who run registered apprenticeships at the federal level.
  • Many ApprenticeOhio programs are completed within two to four years.
 
  • ApprenticeOhio programs provide full-time work during the training period as well as competitive wages – allowing Ohioans to earn while they learn.
 
  • On average, apprentices in Ohio earn $60,000 a year without racking up student loan debt.
  • Ohio offers apprenticeship opportunities in traditional fields like construction and manufacturing, and non-traditional apprenticeship fields like IT and healthcare.
 
  • Through this program, ApprenticeOhio program sponsors can grow their workforce, improve productivity, reduce turnover costs and increase employee retention.
 
 
Ohioans can apply for unemployment benefits online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at unemployment.ohio.gov. It is also possible to file by phone at 877-644-6562 or TTY at 888- 642-8203, Monday through Friday 7AM to 7PM, Saturday 9AM to 5PM, and Sunday 9AM to 1PM. Employers with questions should email UCTech@jfs.ohio.gov.
 
As always, Coronavirus.Ohio.Gov and the Department of Health hotline, 1-833-4-ASK-ODH are great resources for those who have questions.
 


Utilize "Shop Where I Live" & Our Chamber Member Shopping & Dining Guide This Weekend!

Looking for the perfect Valentine's Day gift or plan? Support your local businesses by shopping the Chamber's new "Shop Where I Live" Website and our "Buy Local" online directory.


Face-To-Face Coffee & Connections Returns!
With an important workshop afterward.

The Chamber is excited to be hosting its first, in-person Coffee & Connections in nearly a year! On Wednesday, March 10th, join us at St. Florian Event Center in Wintersville for a delicious breakfast followed by our popular and fun speed-networking session. We'll be able to safely distance and, of course, mask mandates will be in place. Bring business cards, fliers, menus, giveaway items or brochures to distribute.

And afterward, stick around for "Shop Where I Live 101", an informative and interactive workshop covering everything you need to know about the Chamber's new online shopping platform. Bring your laptop or tablet and we'll help you get registered, set up, and answer any questions that you may have. If you're already on Shop Where I Live, it's a great chance to get up-to-speed on adding more products or any other areas that you may have questions about. There's no charge for the workshop, which begins at 10 a.m. and no RSVP is necessary.
What: "Coffee & Connections"
When: Wednesday, March 10th, 2021
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Where: St. Florian Event Center
Cost: $15 Per Person. ($20 for walk-ins)
RSVP: By clicking here or the button below.
City of Steubenville Partnership Launches Incubator Program
In collaboration with the City of Steubenville and Urban Mission Ministries, Paramount Pursuits recently launched Thrive in Steubenville, a 12-month business incubator program designed to break barriers to Entrepreneurship and facilitate the growth of your business.

Whether you are embarking on the journey to start a new business, looking for ways to increase revenue for your existing business, or need help overcoming business issues caused by COVID-19, our Thrive Program will provide all of the tools you need to succeed.

The Paramount Team provides assistance with building a strong foundation for your business, creating a business and marketing plan, digital marketing assistance, understanding your financials, identifying and obtaining funding, networking to build strategic partnerships, and more.

Entrepreneurship is tough! Join our Thrive in Steubenville Program today to make your journey easier.

Have Questions? Contact us: (740) 996-3600 or connect@paramountpursuits.com. For more information, download this flyer. 

Thrive in Steubenville is funded by CDBG-CV funds provided by
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Chamber Billboard Available for 2021

The Chamber billboard is located at the top of Market Street hill and is able to be used by Chamber member non-profits at the discounted rate of $300 per month. There are a few openings available for the remainder of 2021. If you are interested, please contact Hannah Ward at 740.282.6226 or hannah@jeffersoncountychamber.com.
2021 Membership Directory & Community Guide
Virtual version, changeable display ads and more
Be a part of the beautiful full-color 2021 Membership Directory & Community Guide that will be out this spring. Your display ad is designed for free and you are able to change it throughout the year at no charge. Perfect for seasonal messages or promotions, events that you want to advertise, or even job openings. Your ad also links directly to your website or social media page.

Be on the lookout for a call from Lunar Cow Publishing, our partner on this important projects. Questions, contact the Chamber offices at 740.282.6226.
Please join the American Red Cross for a blood drive at Apollo Pro Cleaning & Restoration on Tuesday, February 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. To register, call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-733-2767 or Visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter APOLLO to schedule an appointment!
Hughes Office Equipment
Celebrating over 50 years in the tri-state area.

With Hughes Office Equipment, you can print right from the field using your phone or tablet. Print from your phone or tablet by easily and quickly scanning to One Drive, Dropbox or the Google drive.

Hughes Office Equipment has two locations with offices in Bellaire and Wheeling.

You may reach them at either (740) 676-8000 or (888) 800-8324 or visit their website by clicking below.
How to Bring Your Business & Brand Online
Presented by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Business Academy in partnership with Square.
Date: Thursday, February 18th, 2021
Time: 11 a.m. to noon

As soon as people hear about a brand, they’ll typically hop online and search for your business or brand.

Do you have the presence you’re hoping they will find? Join Square eCommerce specialist Martin Guerrero to walk you through the basics of claiming your online presence and what you need to build your website. In our time together, we will cover claiming your domain, creating a first impression, and focusing on the right website elements for your business or brand.

CONTINUE TO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL EATERIES, BREW PUBS, BAKERIES, AND WINERIES.

As the Ohio Valley continues to reopen safely, remember to continue supporting our local, Chamber member food businesses. They are working hard to adapt to your needs and come back from months of restrictions and limitations. Click here for the latest issue of "Let's Eat!"

Member Morsels
Member Morsels are free and an easy, fast way to reach hundreds each week. It reaches the entire Chamber database each Friday - that's over 850 local business owners, managers, and employees.
Remember to visit individual member websites by clicking on the business name or logo. Submit your Member Morsel by clicking the button below.
J.K. Auto Glass Exclusive Chamber Member Windshield Chip Repair Discount

Did you know that a simple rock chip can quickly spread into a crack the whole length of your windshield? And did you also know that temperature changes can help to expedite the spread of a crack?

This is a great time to get those chips filled! It's significantly cheaper to have a rock chip filled than to replace your windshield! J.K. Auto Glass currently offers a discount to Chamber members who would like to have their windshield rock chips filled. Remember, J.K. Auto Glass offers mobile services so they come to you.

Special Chamber Member Discount: $49.99 plus tax. (Regular $75)

Offer expires February 15th. Phone 740.381.1234 for more information or click here for a printable flier.
Save on Flexible Booking with the IHG Heroes Rate

The amazing response by emergency personnel and healthcare workers in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has been nothing short of heroic. To help take care of those who are taking care of us, the Holiday Inn Weirton is introducing discounted, flexible “Heroes” rate programs available to medical, government, or military personnel supporting relief efforts.

In addition, the Heroes Rate can now be used to book leisure stays for those medical, government, or military personnel supporting relief efforts, so they can spend some time resting and recovering with their families.

Book and stay by June 30th, 2021.

For more info, click here. For a downloadable flyer with more info, please click here.
Around the State. Around the Country.
Up-to-Date Information from the Ohio and United States Chamber of Commerce
Senate Passes Broadband Access Bill

On Wednesday, in a unanimous vote, the Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 8 (SB 8). This legislation picks up the work left from the last general assembly when HB 13 failed to clear both chambers. Like HB 13, SB 8 creates a Broadband Expansion Program Authority (BEPA) to review applications from potential suppliers of broadband services to unserved areas in the state of Ohio. SB 8 moves BEPA back to the Ohio Development Services Agency (DSA). HB 13 would have put BEPA in the Department of Commerce.

SB 8 begins a process to address the 300,000 homes in Ohio that do not have access to high-speed internet services. The BEPA will use two application periods to award funds to bid winners seeking to add public monies to projects that just do not have a return on investment without the injection of public funds. SB 8 has funding of $20 million to assist the projects.  

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.
The Business Community Needs Regulatory Certainty Now More Than Ever

Fairness and transparency are essential in regulatory policy to enable businesses to invest and grow. These attributes are especially critical in a time of uncertainty when the economy is trying to recover. 

Unfortunately, the new administration is rolling back policy that now, more than ever, is needed to advance smart regulations and fair implementation that allows businesses to innovate and reopen with confidence.

For example, on its first day in office, it rolled back two Executive Orders that ensured agencies used their enforcement powers fairly and provided the necessary guidance for businesses, individuals, and non-profit organizations to stay on the right side of the law.

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.
 The Library Link
 Great Books About Business With Just A Click

Please Note: The Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County is open for curbside service. Visit www.steubenvillelibrary.org to order books, then call your library branch to schedule an appointment to pick up your library items. Library branch contact information and operating hours are available by clicking here on this link from the website.

Your link to success begins at the library. With each week of "In The Know," 
 you to a business book or magazine that will inspire, teach, inform, or elevate you, professionally and personally. This week:

Quiet Is a Superpower: 
The Secret Strengths of Introverts in the Workplace
by Jill Chang

How does a self-described "extreme introvert" thrive in a world where extroverts are rewarded and social institutions are set up in favor of them? Using her personal story as a "case study of one," debut, Taiwanese author Jill Chang shows that introverts hold great, untapped potential for success in a globalized world. Chang draws from her own experience working in fields that are filled with extroverts, including as an agent for Major League Baseball players, a founder of her own business, and a leading figure in tech philanthropy. Instead of changing herself to fit a mold, she learned that embracing her introversion was the reason she was able to accomplish great goals and see blind spots that obstructed her extroverted peers. Quiet Is a Superpower gives introverts the tools to better understand how they can form relationships, excel in cross-cultural workplaces, and navigate extroverted settings without compromising comfort or personality.

Borrow the book by clicking here.
Today in History
The NAACP is founded
- February 12, 1909 -

From History: On February 12, 1909, the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, a group that included African American leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett announced the formation of a new organization.

Called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, it would have a profound effect on the struggle for civil rights and the course of 20th Century American history.

The conference that led to the NAACP's founding had been called in response to a race riot in Illinois.

The founders also noted the disturbing trends of lynchings, which reached their peak not during or immediately after the Civil War but in the 1890s and early 1900s, as segregation laws took effect across the South and white supremacists once again gained total control of state governments.

Many of the organization's early members came from the Niagara Movement, a group created by Black activists who were opposed to the concepts of conciliation and assimilation.

In its early years, the NAACP spread awareness of the lynching epidemic by means of a 100,000-person silent march in New York City. It also won a major legal victory in 1915, when the Supreme Court declared an Oklahoma "grandfather clause" that allowed whites to bypass voting restrictions unconstitutional.

Perhaps its most famous legal victory came in 1954, when NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund founder Thurgood Marshall won the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. Marshall went on to become the first African American Supreme Court justice in 1967.

In addition to other legal victories during the Civil Rights Era, the NAACP helped organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, as well as the Mississippi Freedom Summer, a seminal voter registration drive. The campaign came two years after an NAACP field secretary, Medgar Evers, was assassinated at his home in Jackson.

Due to its prominent members, landmark legal victories, and lobbying for laws like the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, the NAACP holds a place of distinction in the history of the civil rights movement.

It remains the largest and oldest active civil rights group in the nation, and its emphasis on voter registration, legal defense and activism have set an example for subsequent groups to follow.

For more events that took place on
February 12th, please click here.
Top 5 Valentine’s Day Facts
for 2021:

  • $21.8 Billion: Total Valentine’s Day spending projected for 2021 ($164.76 per person celebrating).
  • $231 vs. $101: Men will spend more than twice as much as women, on average, for Valentine’s Day 2021.
  • $8.1 Billion: Amount Americans will spend on jewelry ($4.1B), flowers ($2B) and candy ($2B).
  • 1 in 6: Marriages begins online.
  • 33%: Overall online dating activity increase across the US between February 1 and February 14.

Text: WalletHub
Questions about Oil & Gas?

These non-profit organizations are here to help you stay up-to-date on the oil and gas industry in Jefferson County:

Get The Information You Need - The Chamber Staff Is Here To Help
Hannah Ward
Administrative & Membership Coordinator

Contact Hannah with changes to your membership information, questions regarding events or programs, or assistance with scheduling an Eblast or Member Morsel.
Tricia Maple-Damewood
President

Contact Tricia with suggestions, input or feedback on member programming, how to get involved on a committee or special project or with questions related to Chamber membership.
Craig Cribbs, Reso, Inc.
Billing Support
740-275-4940
Contact Craig with invoice or billing questions and to make a dues, event or sponsorship payment.
Contact Us
The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce
630 Market Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
Phone: 740.282.6226
Fax:  740.282.6285