June 2021
Chamber Connection
Your connection to the greater Hanover business community.
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2021 June COVID Update from Chamber President, Gary Laird The past fifteen months have been incredibly turbulent and challenging for businesses both large and small. As restrictions are relaxed and we begin to safely transition to the new normal, the Hanover Chamber will continue to stay focused on what is most important to us, our members, and the community. Our organization experienced the burden of COVID-19, and it enabled use to evaluate our organization and rethink how we conduct business. We look forward to resuming many of our social activities and events. That is a reason why many of our small business members join the Chamber.
recognizes the achievements of students from five local high schools was hosted in May on our Facebook page and website.
In March 2020, when the pandemic struck it changed how we live and how we conduct business. Since then, the Chamber has worked diligently to provide information through its communication channels regarding COVID, resources available to business, advocating for members and the community, and working with elected officials and healthcare leaders to provide timely and meaningful information. Throughout this past year, our staff has focused on the pandemic and its impact on the community, but we also remained focused on our key priorities of economic and community development. Our pre-apprentice and apprenticeship programs continue to grow, and our business/ education partnerships are as strong as ever. We conducted our Leadership Hanover class with thirteen participants this year, and only did one class virtually. While the pandemic put a pause on in-person events, we adapted by turning our events virtual to celebrate our members and the community. Our Annual Business Awards celebration turned virtual as we were able to still recognize members and award recipients through a video series. The annual Best and Brightest celebration that
The Hanover Chamber’s current fiscal year ends in August and our team is already planning for 2022 and 2023. In 2023, the Chamber will be celebrating a major milestone of 100 years of service to our members and the community. This year has been the most challenging in my twenty years of service at the Chamber and I am sure the same holds true to you. I am hopeful that we can safely reopen and get back to business as usual and have COVID and pandemic drop from being part of everyday conversation.
In March 2021, we were reaccredited as a Five Star Chamber by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This is the highest rank a Chamber of Commerce can receive placing the Hanover Chamber in the top two percent of Chambers across the country. The Accreditation process scores planning, communications, facilities, finance, governance, government affairs, human resources, programming, and technology.
I want to thank you for your continued support of the Hanover Chamber. Rest assured we will continue to work hard on your behalf.
Best Regards, Gary Laird President
146 Carlisle Street Hanover, PA 17331 717.637.6130 www.hanoverchamber.com