Your Weekly Chamber News Week of 4/14/2020

Seeds to Grow The best way to teach your kids about taxes is by eating 30 percent of their ice cream. -Bill Murray  Lynn Snodgrass | CEO

Thank You Renewing Members American Medical Response Northwest Sandy River Marketing Inc. SERVPRO of Gresham ON Semiconductor

Chamber urges NO vote on Metro Income Taxes 26-210

Weeks before the pandemic, the Gresham Area Chamber Government Affairs Committee reviewed the information surrounding the two new income taxes Metro is proposing.  One tax is on personal income and the other on business income. Based in large part on the lack of a detailed plan of how the new taxes were going to be spent, they recommended opposing the new taxes.  And then the pandemic hit. We were surprised Metro proceeded on the path of putting these taxes before the voters in the May ballot. The measure lacked clarity before. It lacks timeliness now. Strapping our businesses and personal income with a new tax is reckless and irresponsible. Many people and businesses will be deciding between utility and mortgage payments. Now is not the time to strap them with yet another tax, leaving them with even fewer dollars to spend on necessities.

Chamber in Pictures

Amazing the difference a year can make. In April 2019 one Friday AM was hosted by US Bank. Janine Gladfelter was promoting opening business accounts in this picture. Fast forward to April 2020 .  US Bank is one of the PPPL lenders. Checks mean something different in this photo today.

Colin Rath of Migration Brewing, the Rising Star winner at the 2020 Business Excellence Awards, reached out to the chamber last week. Migration Brewing had extra food and wanted to know where to donate. Colin knew to call the Chamber as a resource for information. Thanks for trusting us Colin.

Will you join us? Have you ever tried to put a jigsaw puzzle together without the picture of what it is? You are holding a yellow puzzle piece but don’t know if it is a flower, car door, or Big Bird's tummy. As you slowly and painstakingly put pieces together, the puzzle picture becomes more clear.   Eventually the puzzle is complete.  Then you get that sense of accomplishment (unless, of course, your brother hides one piece from you on purpose).   We are in that kind of scenario. The seriousness of our situation should not be compared to a jigsaw puzzle, but each piece plays a role to get to the entire picture. Right now we are not sure what the puzzle picture looks like.  But we also know we will share in the accomplishment when the pieces all go back together.    T hree important pieces to our pandemic puzzle will be in a Zoom meeting on Thursday, April 16th at 10:30 AM: Mayor Shane Bemis, City of Gresham Linda Navarro, President & CEO of the Oregon Bankers Association Lynn Snodgrass, CEO of best darn chamber in the Pacific Northwest                                      We invite you to join.   This 45 minute Zoom meeting will provide up-to-date information of what each are doing as we navigate the unchart e d territory.   We will send meeting information to all who have registered, so register today!

Click Here to Register

This Week's AM

Friday, April 17, 2020 Friday AM Cancelled, to be Rescheduled

Member Tips, Tools, & Press Releases

Xcelsior Coaching & Consulting Be the Leader Crisis reveals a leader's character. How you react and lead your people speaks volumes towards your skills and indicates your readiness to lead. As a leader, you may not know how to deal with certain situations, but your reaction can make a great deal of difference. SERVPRO of Gresham While waiting for a professional to help with your flood: Place aluminum foil or wood blocks between furniture legs and wet carpet Turn the air conditioner on for maximum drying in summer Remove colored rugs from wet carpet Remove art and take to a safe & dry place Gather loose items from floors

Level UP! (Sales and Management Coaching) Good Business Practices: There are more video hours on YouTube than there has been years of existence for the universe. Also, do not believe everything you read. All About Automotive Does a free scan or code read for your illuminated check engine light tell you what is wrong with your car? No, this code that is retrieved gives you the symptom or condition that the computer is seeing, so it gives you a testing starting point. It takes detailed pinpoint testing and results analyzation to properly diagnose a check engine light. That is why there is a diagnostic fee charged at professional repair facilities.

Find COVID-19 Resources on the Chamber's Dedicated Webpage here.

Tourism adventures will return in upcoming newsletter editions.

Read Travel Oregon's COVID-19 Travel Updates Here

Friday AM Meetings "You at 7:22"

Exceed Enterprises Cancelled and will be Rescheduled Gresham Schmizza Public House Cancelled and will be Rescheduled Hire NW Cancelled and will be Rescheduled

AVAILABLE ONLINE! Member Event Calendar Need to promote your special day, event, fundraiser, classes, meetings, and more? Get value by listing your events with the Chamber by logging into your member portal at the top of greshamchamber.org. Once logged in, navigate to events. Having trouble? Just email gacc@greshamchamber.org. Click here for a complete list of Member Events. To post a tip, email the details to gacc@greshamchamber.org . Please remember to keep it to 40 words or less.

Member Job Openings List Your Job Openings With The Chamber  One of the free benefits of membership is the ability to post job openings on the Chamber's website. To post a job opening, just log into your member portal (at the top of greshamchamber.org) and navigate to jobs. Need help? Just email gacc@greshamchamber.org. Click Here for a list of current job openings.

Connect with the Gresham Chamber

Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce | 503-665-1131 | gacc@greshamchamber.org | GreshamChamber.org