The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
County businesses grappling with pandemic
MIDDLETOWN — June has arrived in Middlesex County and throughout our great nation. However, as was the case with March, April and May, it is not a typical Middlesex County June as we all continue to collectively grapple with the COVID-19 crisis.
I continue to be very proud of my chamber team which has done a great job for our membership and for the business community at large during this difficult time. Last week featured well-run and productive meetings of the chamber’s Westbrook Division, East Haddam and Haddam Division, Arrigoni Bridge Committee, Women’s Leadership Collaborative, and Middletown Car Cruise Planning Committee. We also held another very successful Tuesday Tips workshop, and an important session on PPP Forgiveness with the Connecticut Small Business Development Center.
The calendar moves full steam ahead this week with a host of important meetings, events and activities conducted through online portals. It kicks off Monday with a Zoom Executive Committee meeting led by our Chairman, Don DeVivo.
The chamber’s Executive Committee features a variety of business and community leaders from a number of industry sectors. It will feature an update from key chamber members and staff, along with a breakdown of our efforts to support the business community through this crisis.
Also chamber staff will be busy this week executing important meetings of our LEAD CT Steering Committee, Portland and East Hampton Division, Environment and Infrastructure Committee, Central Business Bureau, Real Estate Council and Chester, Deep River and Essex Division.
June 11 features an important virtual chamber member luncheon with keynote speakers Gov. Ned Lamont and DECD Commissioner David Lehman. Both of these gentlemen have been working around the clock since this COVID 19 crisis began back in March. They are doing a very good job under very difficult circumstances, and we look forward to hearing their thoughts about how far we have come, and where we go from here.
The event will focus on the gradual reopening of Connecticut’s economy, which is underway, and what precautions will be necessary for the foreseeable future. I thank both Gov. Lamont and Commissioner Lehman for taking the time to visit with our members, and Liberty Bank for their sponsorship of this important chamber event. Liberty Bank CEO David Glidden and his team have also been working extremely hard in recent weeks, and we always appreciate their efforts and their unwavering commitment to our community.
Our Middletown Car Cruise Planning Committee has been meeting on a weekly basis as it gears up for “Start your Engines to Sunday Funday — Middletown is Virtually Cruisin’.” This event is powered by NAPA.
We have been heartened by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we have received from the community about this creative event June 14. It will be a fantastic virtual event that will celebrate and cheer on the many American heroes who have been serving on the front lines through this difficult period. The route has been designed to pass the Middletown Police Department, fire and emergency personnel and Middlesex Health.
We ask all who participate to honk as they drive by as a show of appreciation and support for these heroic efforts. We are expecting a number of vehicles, but please note that we will be following the social distancing guidelines outlined by the state of Connecticut.
This event will benefit Middletown youth programs, including the Hal Kaplan Middletown Mentor Program and the Middletown Summer Youth Employment Program. I will certainly have more to share in next week’s chamber column, but you can visit cruisenightonmain.com anytime for more information. I thank Alicia Beal and the entire team at NAPA Genuine Parts Company for their great support of this event and of our chamber.
In another example of the chamber team adapting to a difficult situation, our annual Travelers Championship Member Breakfast Meeting will take place, via an online portal, June 23. This year’s Travelers Championship will go on as scheduled, although it will unfortunately have to be played without fans due to COVID-19.
We plan to hold the member breakfast meeting virtually, and we look forward to welcoming an exciting PGA player as keynote speaker. I will have much more on this exciting chamber event as we get closer, including the formal announcement of the speaker, but please save the date and save the dates for another exciting week of professional golf right here in Middlesex County. I would like to thank Travelers Companies once again for their outstanding support of our chamber, and of so many community based initiatives in our state.
Switching gears a bit, I want to take a moment to congratulate Jeff Polke, Dan Grace, and the entire team at GCI Outdoor of Higganum on a very successful Memorial Day weekend on QVC. GCI’s Kickback Rocker was the special of the day on QVC, and it was featured over a 24-hour stretch on the popular home shopping television network. We are fortunate to have this innovative and terrific company right here in Middlesex County, and we appreciate their support of our chamber and of many community initiatives.
I also want to take a moment to remind everyone that the chamber’s reLAUNCH Campaign is officially underway. It serves as a catalyst to assist the Middlesex Chamber community with recovering and emerging from COVID-19 through innovation, communication and collaboration. Please visit middlesexchamber.com/ relaunch to view what is essentially a resource guide which covers everything from communications and PR, marketing, human resources, workforce development, best business practices, signage, access to financing and much more.
This will be a living guide that will grow as more information comes in and more restrictions are lifted. I would like to thank our Strategic Planning Committee, led by Teresa Opalacz, and chamber VP Johanna Bond for all of their great work on this important product.
Before closing, I want to again urge our COVID weary community to hang in there and trust that we are going in the right direction. The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce has known since the beginning that this is first and foremost a public health crisis, but we never stop thinking about our regional economy and the health of our businesses.
This chamber is working every day with our partners at the federal, state, and local levels, and we are doing our best to support the business community in Middlesex County in every conceivable way. The tide is turning in our favor, but we must remain vigilant and smart, and we must continue to work together. I am so proud of and have so much faith in this community, and I know we will be standing strong in the end.
I must unfortunately close this week’s column on a sad note after the recent passing of George M. Eames III of Durham at the age of 94. George Eames led a terrific professional career, and he was an outstanding supporter of me, and of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce.
He worked for Durham Manufacturing Co. for 47 years, serving as treasurer, president, vice chairman and chief executive officer. He also supported a host of community initiatives throughout his life, mostly in his beloved home town of Durham.
Our chamber was honored to present George with our Distinguished Citizen Award in 1990, an honor very well deserved. George was instrumental in the process that led to me becoming president of the chamber in 1983. I will always be grateful for his friendship and support.
Our thoughts and prayers are with George’s wife, Lee, to whom he was married for an amazing 73 years, and his entire family at this difficult time. George M. Eames III led a life welllived, and he will be missed by many.
Larry McHugh is president of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce in Middletown.