SILVERDALE CHAMBER BUSINESS BRIEF
September 30, 2021
One
Countywide Chambers
of Commerce Survey
As a Kitsap County business owner, do you think that requiring proof of vaccination to enter your business would be beneficial or harmful?
Answer Below
I think that would help my business
I think that would harm my business
I think that would have little effect on my business
The 6 Chambers of Commerce in Kitsap County are asking the same question of our members to provide both local and countywide insight into what our business community is experiencing. If you are a member of multiple Chambers, please complete only one Chamber's survey for your business each week.
Click here for the most recent
data reported by
Results from Last Week's Survey:

What element of modern business would you
most like to learn more about?
The Silverdale Chamber is committed to learning how best we can
engage and work for our business membership. Your participation in poll
questions like these help us to work better for you!
Two
Health District Meeting Results in No Decision for Kitsap Businesses
Kitsap’s health board shied away from the idea of imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates or requirements during a meeting that drew a large protest in Bremerton on Tuesday.

The special meeting of the Kitsap Public Health District board was scheduled as a discussion on the pandemic and its effects on the local health care system, and in a memo to the board ahead of the meeting, Dr. Gib Morrow, the health district’s health officer, presented a suite of action items the board could pursue, including issuing a formal recommendation that local governments and business have their employees vaccinated against the virus, issuing a formal order requiring vaccinations for government employees and ordering businesses to require patrons to prove they were vaccinated for entry.

During the discussion, the board largely didn’t show interest in pursuing vaccine requirements.
Three
Workforce as the Next Big Challenge for Main Streets
In 1989, the New York Times ran their now-famous (for us Main Street old-timers) article entitled “When Wal-Mart Comes to Town.” Featuring Wal-Mart’s arrival to Independence, Iowa, this article predicted the doom of small-town downtowns when big business competitors move into commercial districts. Twenty years since the article’s publication, I think we would all agree that—like so many competitors and economic shifts before—Main Streets found their competitive advantage by offering a unique, experiential retail to consumers.

Today, we find ourselves once again looking at a similar cast of competitors, but in a much different way. Main Street retail and restaurant owners find themselves competing with new jobs created in the warehouse and logistics sectors of larger retail agglomerations. Given the robust online sales of large national retailers, these corporations are now offering a growing number of these supply chain occupations ranging from warehouse packers to delivery drivers. Wal-Mart alone has stated that they plan to hire 20,000 new warehouse and fulfillment positions to gear up for the holidays—a move that will only further strain efforts from Main Street retailers and restaurants to retain and hire needed workers in a post-COVID retail environment.

Four
Single-Use Bag Ban
Begins October 1st
Starting Oct. 1, single-use plastic carryout bags in all retail, restaurant and takeout establishments will be prohibited. This means businesses that haven’t done so already should begin the process of phasing out single-use plastic bags.

There are some exemptions for food establishments to use single-use bags that do not have handles and smaller paper bags to prevent cross-contamination with ready-to-eat foods:
  • Bags that contain or wrap items where dampness or sanitation might be a problem, including but not limited to frozen foods, meat, fish, flowers, potted plants are exempt.
  • Bags that contain unwrapped prepared foods or bakery goods are exempt.
Bags that protect a purchased item from damaging or contaminating other purchased items are exempt.
Five
Register Now for In-Person Membership Luncheon
Contact Us
360-692-6800
Silverdale Chamber of Commerce
Hours of Operation
Monday - Thursday - 11 am to 5 pm
Friday & Saturday - 11 am to 3pm