Good Afternoon!
 
What an exciting week with the recognition of Martin Luther King Day yesterday, the start of our 2021 Utah State Legislative Session today, and the inauguration of our 46^th President of the United States tomorrow.   At ChamberWest, we have our own busy week with the Board of Governors planning to meet on Thursday with updates and timelines for Bangerter Highway and Mountain View Corridor.  Our newly formed Professional Development Committee met yesterday as they work to determine topics/presenters for the Professional Development Series for 2021 and topics for the Small Business Series.   
 
The ChamberWest Legislative Affairs Committee meets tomorrow and then twice weekly starting next week as they work to identify legislation having an impact on our business community and their work with our legislators.  The bill tracker is available for review on our website at www.chamberwest.com. Let me know if you have legislation that needs to come before this committee.  
 
Our Women in Business Committee is a strong program directed towards elevating women in business.  If you have additional team members who should be engaged in this committee, please let us know so we can ensure they are receiving information on the programs.  The WIB Executive Committee is actively working to finalize all the details for another strong year of events/programs. 
 
We’ve just received notification from the Utah SBA office that effective today, the Paycheck Protection Program is now open to all lenders vs. the limited number of lenders only over the past week.  If you are interested, contact your bank or credit union and look to them to help you understand the process and to get an application started as soon as possible as the funds are available on a first-come-first-served basis. The SBA will have a “Shuttered Venue Operators Grant” program as well with up to $10 million per eligible application to provide emergency assistance to venues affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  If you are interested in this grant, feel free to reach out to me to get additional information.  You can access the many relief options at:  https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options.  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also has a Guide to Small Business COVID-19 Emergency Loans that can be accessed at:  https://www.uschamber.com/report/guide-small-business-covid-19-emergency-loans.
 
We’ve had to modify the schedule for some of our major events and wanted get the information out to you.  Please mark your calendars and save the dates for these upcoming major ChamberWest events:
 
Tuesday, April 13 – Women in Business Spring Conference, Utah Cultural Celebration Center & Virtual
Tuesday, June 15 – Annual Awards Gala, Maverik Center
Wednesday, July 14 – Annual Golf Classic, Stonebridge Golf Club
 
Look forward to receiving additional information.  Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need any assistance.  Hope you have a great day and week!
 
Barbara
Barbara S. Riddle, CMP
President/CEO
801-540-6312
www.ChamberWest.com