Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Lisa Morales, of Lasting Impressions Salon in Clovis, is among business owners with questions as COVID-19 began invading the nation. Morales, with customer Marcy Lovvorn of Clovis, won't cut hair again until April, but others in her shop will accept appointments.
CLOVIS — The coronavirus is affecting every phase of life everywhere, especially businesses that have had to alter hours or in some cases just flat out close.
Local Chambers of Commerce are determined to do anything they can to prevent that from happening.
Communicating with member businesses and the community in general is always an important part of the Clovis/Curry County and Roosevelt Chambers of Commerce missions. In these troubled times, it’s crucial.
“Absolutely. That is more important than ever,” Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ernie Kos said late Monday afternoon. “The Chamber is maintaining business as usual, and we’re just trying to align our members with the best practices to keep Clovis healthy.”
“We’re going to do a lot more (communicating) than we normally do,” Roosevelt County Chamber Executive Director Karl Terry said late Monday afternoon. “We always have that charge to keep our members informed. ... That kind of exploded; the job of doing that has really ramped up a lot, how to help our businesses weather the time that we’re in right now.
“What I would like to tell people is that we need to pull together as a community. It’s very easy to hole up at home and order things online, but remember your local businesses are going to depend on you supporting them now more than ever. It’s critical for small business.”
Tuesday, the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce sent out a toolkit press release, offering information about:
• The New Mexico Economic Development Department’s COVID-19 Business Loan Guarantee Program “which assists businesses seeking emergency loans or lines of credit to deal with negative economic impacts from COVID-19;”
• Federal economic injury disaster loans, referring specifically to the Small Business Administration announcing “up to $2 million in economic injury disaster loans that may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact;”
• an economic injury worksheet form, on which “businesses are encouraged to provide an explanation of the adverse economic effects the disaster is having on their business;”
• displaced worker benefits, including unemployment eligibility and details about how to file for unemployment;
• a variety of resources provided by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “to help educate employers and employees on how to prepare for and address the impacts of the coronavirus;”
• a COVID-19 Hotline, on which the New Mexico Department of Health “will answer health-related questions about the virus and direct residents and health care providers to the right resources in their local communities and in other state government departments;”
• and a list of restaurants that offer take-out, curbside service and delivery.
Terry and the Roosevelt Chamber late Monday released a list of restaurants, food and beverages that can help Roosevelt businesses keep chugging along, even if it means people are placing more online and delivery orders.
Terry said the Roosevelt Chamber usually reaches out to member businesses via email and the public via social media, so he advised that people keep connected to those online paths, especially important in these unique times.
