ReOpen Montgomery Grant - Provides grants of up to $5,000 to reimburse businesses for items purchased to comply with State and County reopening requirements to protect public health. A business does not have to have been closed to be eligible for a grant. Find details and the application here.

State Layoff Aversion Fund - provides up to $50,000 for eligible small businesses undergoing economic stresses due to the pandemic by preventing or minimizing the duration of unemployment resulting from layoffs. The program will remain open through 30 days after the State of Emergency ends or until funding has been fully exhausted. Learn more here.

Primary Care Medical and Dental Grant - provides grants up to $60,000 for eligible independent primary care medical and general dentistry practices. Applications accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, November 29. Register here to receive a link to the application. Find more information here.

Tourism Anchor Institution Grant Program - provides financial assistance to non-profit entities in Montgomery County that are tourist-oriented and have a mission that focuses on arts, culture, agriculture and/or recreation. Applications accepted until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, November 30. Apply here.

Restaurant Relief Grant - provides grants of up to $10,000 to eligible County restaurants and other food-service businesses. Applications accepted through Friday, December 4. Click here for more information and to apply.

Early Care and Education School Age Child Care Grant - Supports school age child care providers operating licensed child care programs in public school buildings and working parents. Find details here.

While the Oxford English Dictionary couldn’t choose just one word to describe 2020, the Chamber and business communities can probably agree on an important one: pivot. Business owners are no strangers to the unpredictable – economic downturns, aging workforces, changing policies, you name it – but 2020 took unpredictable and ratcheted it up to unprecedented. To stay afloat, many businesses have tapped into the spirit of innovation and ingenuity and pivoted. The Chamber would like to celebrate any member business that successfully pivoted during the pandemic, be it with a new product, new business model, or the like, we want to know. Share your successful business pivot stories with the Chamber by emailing Jane here.

A Montgomery County Economic Advisory Group, appointed by County Executive Marc Elrich, has issued an "Economic Roadmap to Recover & Long-Term Success" focused on identifying short- and long-term actions to address challenges and opportunities to rebuild a stronger, more resilient economy and grow the tax base to support important social and educational programs

for its citizens. The group focused on four key objectives:

Read the full report here.

The Montgomery County Council recently passed legislation (Bill 35-20), championed by Councilmember Will Jawando, to prohibit all County employers from conducting background checks until after a conditional offer of employment has been extended. A similar law was passed in 2014 but pertained only to employers of 15 or more full-time employees and allowed inquiries after the initial interview. Employers should review their job applications and hiring practices to make sure they are compliant with this new law.

Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for the Fall Beer Tasting After Hours with Denizens Brewing Co.! And a big thank you to Denizens co-founder Julie Verratti for sharing expertise and insights into the many tasty varieties of Denizens brews.

Celebrating the holidays may look different this year but the cheer and merriment remains the same. Many of our members have exciting holiday promotions and the Chamber would like to share them! If your company or business is providing holiday promotions, deals, products, or packages, please contact Julie Pawlikowski. Provide a short write up of the promotion and include either a flyer or webpage link by end of business Thursday, December 3. All promotions will be shared in the newsletter.

* Congratulations to Kim Levone, Improbably Comedy founder and producer, on being a guest of the Kojo Nnamdi show last week. The show, “Yes, There Are Still Things To Laugh About: Comedy During COVID” explored the changes comedy shows face during the pandemic, specifically moving outdoors and on Zoom. Read more here.

* Congratulations to Denizens Brewing Co. on the Born Bohemian Pilsner receiving a 91/100 (“Exceptional – Don’t Hesitate”) rating from The Beer Connoisseur. Read here for more.

* Today is the last day to participate in Ellsworth Place’s Acts of Kindness Challenge. To enter, post a photo or video of your act of kindness on social media and tag Ellsworth Place. The winner will receive a Thanksgiving dinner for four provided by Whole Foods and a $500 donation made to the food bank outreach ministry of Clifton Park Baptist Church in the winner's name. For more information, read here.

* Downtown Silver Spring will set up two s’mores stations on the plaza Friday, November 27, and Friday, December 11, to benefit Manna Food Center. Read the Source of the Spring article here for more information.

* Fenwick Beer & Wine has a Special Thanksgiving offer: buy $100 worth of items, get $10 off; buy $50 worth, get $5 off. This offer is valid from Monday, November 23 to Thursday, November 26, 2020. For more details, read here.

* Levine Music has recently launched a new website which includes a refreshed homepage and navigation menus, new course catalog, and compatibility across all devices. View the new site here.

See your company's news here! Send us your news releases and news items by noon on Friday for publication in the following Monday's edition. Click here for guidelines on submitting Member News.

As businesses re-open and employers are tasked with providing PPE for their returning employees, GSSCC launched a “Back to Business Products” page on our website for members looking to purchase PPE products, signage, and more. If your business is selling PPEs and you would like to be on this page, please complete this form and send it to Julie at jpawlikowski@gsscc.org.

* Membership Development Committee Virtual Meeting - 9 a.m. on Tuesday, November 24.

* Small Business Owners Network Virtual Meeting - 12 noon on Thursday, December 3. Focus will be on planning discussion topics for 2021. Group members are encouraged to bring their ideas.

* Non-Profit Team Virtual Meeting - 9 a.m. on Tuesday, December 8.

Corporate Partners - Downtown Silver Spring; Lee Development Group; Montgomery College; Joseph W. McCartin Insurance;

 Business Partners - Andalman & Flynn, AFI Silver Theatre; Apex Home 

 Partners - Adam Lowe Creative; Bell Flowers; EBA Ernest Bland Associates; Image360.