Greetings and Happy New Year to our chamber members.

2021 has started off with a bang and is quickly proving it will be an eventful year for us all indeed. You can count on the Kent County Chamber of Commerce to keep you informed and up-to-date regarding what is happening here in our community.

What you can expect from the Kent Chamber in 2021 can be summed up in three words: Information, Engagement, and Creativity.

Whereas we cannot give a definitive date or time as to when we will resume in-person events, we will use all of the tools at our disposal to effectively carryout the mission of the organization.

Information. With COVID-19 still raging across the country, it is our goal to keep our members and the community at-large informed on critical resources businesses need to survive the volatile nature of our economy. We will share information on grants, policy, and webinars regarding the coronavirus that are relevant to our member businesses and non-profits.

We will also use our platforms to share information from our members. Despite the challenges we are facing as a community, several of our members are reporting breakthroughs and are positively impacting our community—they should be recognized and celebrated. In addition, the Kent Chamber excels at facilitating b2b connections as many in the community turn to us to get information and recommendations on our members. This will remain a top priority of ours.

Engagement. Platforms like Zoom really proved their weight in gold last year and their performance in 2021 will be no different. After hosting just shy of 100 people on our pre-legislative session discussion just a week ago, Zoom has proven invaluable in our efforts to engage our membership. Until we get the all-clear to proceed with in-person gatherings, we will continue using Zoom and other online platforms to host our events.

Creativity. 2020 definitely taught us the importance creativity plays in pivoting one’s operations in the midst of a global pandemic. Whereas I hope we will see the conclusion of COVID-19 in 2021, we will continue to embrace creativity in order to effectively add value to the organization and membership.

Please know the Kent County Chamber of Commerce stands ready to work closely with you and your organization in 2021.

Stay safe,