“I think it exceeded our expectations,” said Stéphanie Simard, president of the Clarence-Rockland Chamber of Commerce. “We’re certainly going to continue it.”

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Lancement d’un projet de conférence virtuelle des affaires

Simard and her counterparts, Julie Brisson of the Prescott-Russell Chamber of Commerce and Marc Lecompte of the Hawkesbury Chamber of Commerce, co-hosted an hour-long virtual information conference May 6 through the Zoom social media teleconferencing system. More than 40 people participated in the event, either as observers or else posing questions to either of the two guest speakers for the event.

The virtual teleconference featured Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MP Francis Drouin and Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, chief medical health officer for the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU). Drouin provided information and answered questions about current federal aid programs designed to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Roumeliotis provided an update on the pandemic situation in the EOHU region and also answered questions about how business operators can manage their operations as the provincial government begins to phase in its plan to restart the Ontario economy. The government is doing a gradual lifting of the restrictions it imposed on businesses in March as part of its pandemic prevention plan to reduce the chance of COVID-19 contagion. Those restrictions included mandatory public closure of all businesses except those deemed “essential” like grocery stores, restaurants which can provide drive-through or delivery service, drugstores, and others which keep residents supplied with food, medicine and other necessities.

The three chambers of commerce will continue their virtual information conference project each week, featuring other guest speakers, for the benefit of their members.