Updated: July 2020

Individual Member Assistance & Guidance

During the pandemic we remained steadfast in our commitment to actively working with Chamber members who need and continue still to need assistance. 

​Our staff has had thousands (yes, thousands) of interactions with members ranging from personal assistance with locating financial and operating resources to finding education and technology options in light of the current unique climate, among other things. The most frequent interactions related to a few categories of assistance:
  • Access to rescue resources (EIDL, PPP,  grants and low interest loans)
  • ​Unemployment assistance enrollment
  • Difficulty in making dues/partner payments during the closure
  • Interpretation and advice regarding the myriad regulations and guidance being issued by federal, state and local governments including:
    • Curbside service
    • Carryout dining
    • Parking and traffic patterns in downtown Frederick
    • Re-employment conditions
    • Personal protective equipment (PPE) availability and mandated usage
    • Social distancing measures 

We have and will continue to work overtime to understand our members needs and do everything in our power to be a conduit to their future prosperity.

COVID-19 Specific Resources

Live Webinar
Throughout the pandemic the Chamber established  Covid resource pages updated multiple times a week in a commitment to bringing as much information as possible to our membership. 

Information ranged from financial resources on a local, state and national scale as well as employment-specific resources. These resources shifted as new laws were enacted and more information became available. 
As a companion to our COVID-19 resource pages and independent conversations with members, we hosted a live webinar covering the opportunities, resources, and tools available along with other information about how the Chamber family could support businesses during quarantine.

Representing Our Membership's Interests

As the largest Chamber membership group in the state of Maryland, we assumed the responsibility of speaking on behalf of our county’s businesses and nonprofit interests in many significant ways and with a multitude of representatives, agencies and specialized task forces. 
This includes regular communication and coordination with Senator Ben Cardin, Senator Chris Van Hollen and Congressman David Trone and their respective staff professionals along with more regional and local municipality leaders in our county, cities and towns. Weekly discussions about economic health and community prosperity were held with partners like the Office of Economic Development - Frederick County, Department of Economic Development - City of Frederick, Visit Frederick & Downtown Frederick Partnership as well as regular discussions with the Frederick County Health Department, Maryland Department of Labor, Maryland Department of Commerce, and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene among others.

MD Chamber of Commerce COVID-19 Workgroup

Reopen Frederick Task Force
Served in an official capacity representing Frederick County businesses as part of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce COVID-19 Workgroup, an effort designed to lead the way in guiding the business community's response to the economic tumult caused by the coronavirus. As part of that effort we helped develop policy recommendations for state and federal lawmakers on behalf of Frederick County to help businesses with near, mid- and long-term economic recovery. Participated in a weekly call with the other members of the Workgroup, coordinated by Ashley Duckman from the Maryland State Chamber of Commerce.
During business shutdown we gathered together a large group of cross-sector professionals to work together to discuss challenges and opportunities for returning to work and resuming normal commercial activities. Each sector faced their own unique and interesting challenges and each contributed best practices, processes and resources to the effort of a county-wide safe reopening plan. The collective input of this task force greatly helped advise public sector decision-makers on how the private and nonprofit sectors can assist with the resumption of normal operations.

Virtual Town Hall

The Chamber was a part of “Frederick Together: Virtual Town Hall” community event moderated by the Frederick News Post. Participating in the dialogue was:
  • Frederick County Executive, Jan Gardner
  • The City of Frederick, Mayor Michael O’Connor
  • Frederick County Health Officer, Dr. Barbara Brookmyer
  • President/CEO of Frederick Health, Tom Kleinhanzl
  • President/CEO of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce, Rick Weldon. 

Conduit Magazine

We worked with our friends at the Frederick News Post to accelerate the release of the Conduit Magazine. This magazine shines a spotlight on our local businesses, industries and community organizations and is an important reminder of the underlying power of our local economy. 

The magazine was inserted into 20,000 Frederick News-Post papers across the county on April 7th. Estimated final readership for this project is over 78,000. Additional copies are available at the Frederick County Chamber office.

Frederick Strong

This marketing and communications initiative was designed to support the goals of rebuilding community, consumer and economic confidence/ pride in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is a collaboration between the City of Frederick Economic Development team, Frederick County Office of Economic Development, Downtown Frederick Partnership and Visit Frederick. 

Graphic design and website generously being donated by Sue Hough and her team at Octavo Designs. Kickoff video generously being donated by KO-Op Media. ​

Positive Messaging: Advertising

We ran a weekly positive message campaign from Rick Weldon in the Monday edition of the Frederick News Post for six weeks. The content varied from week to week but received a tremendous response from the community. 
March 23
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April 13
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March 30
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April 20
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April 6
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April 27
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Chamber Conversations: Trusted Advice in Challenging Times

The Chamber also launched a weekly video series titled Chamber Conversations: Trusted Advice in Challenging Times. This video series was intended to capture direct, simple conversations with experts in various industries in order to provide valuable information and insight to the community. They were uploaded to all of our social channels for easy access for all of our members and the community at large.
​Our first guest was Shabri Moore of Moore Wealth who discussed financial challenges associated with COVID-19 and resources available to business owners as a result. 
​​Our second guest was Amanda Haddaway of HR Answerbox who discussed human resources issues and advice.
Our third guest was Jason Lee of Lee Building Maintenance who discussed sanitation challenges and situations in the workspace. 
Our fourth guest was Matt Johnston of Law Offices of Matthew S. Johnston, LLC who discussed the legal difficulties and situations associated with the pandemic. 
Our fifth guest was Tony Checchia of VCRE discussing the real estate market in light of the pandemic. 

Shop Local Frederick
We also launched a new online projected called Shop Local Frederick on Facebook aimed at supporting all Frederick County Businesses. Shop Local Frederick aims to encourage our community to shop local by providing them with updates, specials, and opportunities from local businesses. We actively collaborated with our partners at Visit Frederick and Downtown Frederick Partnership on content ideas. ​This project will be ongoing. 

Webinar Programming, Articles & Social Media

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Based off of member feedback, the Chamber team decided to pivot from in-person events to free webinars in order to deliver valuable and accessible educational content to grow our member's knowledge base and offer networking opportunities.

WEBINARS
  • Social Media Series Part 1: The Social Media Landscape and Where Your Business Fits Into The Space
  • Social Media Series Part 2: Instagram: It's More Than Just Pretty Pictures
  • Servant Leadership: The True Essence of Leadership 
  • Social Media Series Part 3: Facebook:  Your Frenemy The Algorithm 
  • Are You Getting the Most Out of Your Digital Content 
  • Creative Problem Solving 
  • Social Media Series Part 4:  Bringing It All Together:  Planning, Creating and Converting 
  • Working with People 
  • Preparing For Paycheck Protection Program Loan Forgiveness & Beyond
  • Biotech Connector Speaker Series: May 2020
  • Meetings That Matter
  • Demystifying the Paycheck Protection Program Forgiveness Application & More
  • Virtual Roundtable with MD Comptroller Peter Franchot
  • Leading Through Great Challenges 

VIRTUAL NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
  • Virtual Networking Power Hour
  • Women In Business: Virtual Happy Hour Social

ONLINE ARTICLES
​We also worked to produce weekly online articles to help educate our membership on relevant topics and provide member spotlights. These include: 


SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY
We continue to provide valuable content, including event updates, business and financial resources, community updates and more, across our various social platforms.

For more information on our social spaces please visit this page.

Member Check-Ins

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Once public health restrictions were lifted, our staff began to reach out and pay visits to our members in order to check on their well being as well as to announce reopenings and assist in promotional efforts.

​These visits will be ongoing. If you would like to request a visit from our Chamber team, please email arodriguez@frederickchamber.org.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

NEW MEMBERS
Copyright Frederick County Chamber of Commerce.  All Rights Reserved.
118 North Market Street, Suite 200, Frederick, MD  21701
info@frederickchamber.org | Phone: (301) 662-4164
Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm