June 19, 2020, County Executive Gardener allowed Governor Hogan’s excitive order allowing most Maryland businesses to reopen to some extent to go into effect in Frederick County.
Restaurants were allowed to partially reopen their indoor dining rooms, indoor amusement facilities and gyms were permitted to begin welcoming customers back, and our local economy began to move towards working a little more like we remember before the global pandemic descended upon our community.
A month later, Frederick County is still not “back to normal” and, if we’re honest, we don’t expect life to resume as it once was until well into 2021 when a vaccine or a viable treatment for COVID-19 becomes available. For the sake of public health, our businesses will continue to face operating challenges that impact their bottom lines.
Our community has already come together to support our local business owners, from county grants and private GoFund Me accounts, to Facebook groups and pages created to support local business owners, we have seen Frederick do so much to keep our local businesses alive and thriving. But, the journey is not over and, as we continue to battle this virus, we are all counting on each other to make it through in one piece. Here are some things you can do to make that happen.
Shop Local and Other Ways to Support Frederick Businesses This Summer
Wear your masks and wear them correctly.
Not under your nose, not across your chin, not hanging from your back pocket so the 16 year old scooping your ice cream has to ask you to put it on.
We are asking every Frederick County citizen to do their part, be the example, and help make sure our local businesses and their employees stays healthy, safe and open.
Regardless of anyone’s personal opinion about wearing masks, they are required inside of businesses across the state of Maryland. Compliance allows our businesses to continue to operate and kind compliance is just the right thing to do to show you respect and care about Frederick, our fellow community members, the business owners and their employees.
And stay home if you’re not feeling well.
Or if you’ve engaged in risky behavior and not had a chance to get tested.
Where to get tested in Frederick: Frederick County Health Dept.
Understand what shop local means.
Shopping local doesn’t only mean that you shop and eat at independent stores and restaurants in downtown Frederick. Shopping local means supporting the small business owners who are members of our community whether they own online businesses, independent shops and services, or even franchises. It means supporting the various locally owned businesses located throughout our county, along the Golden Mile, out to Thurmont and Emmitsburg, and all the way back again.
Even walking into your local corporate owned store helps (as opposed to ordering something from a non-local online seller) because those locations employ our neighbors, family members, and friends.
Remember, if you’re not ready to venture out, don’t feel guilty, you can help too.
Continue ordering delivery from local restaurants, and buy gift cards for businesses to use as gifts or for when you are ready to go out again in the future. The money you spend now can help keep those businesses available to you in the future.
Support our nonprofits.
Many of our local nonprofits are struggling right now.
Fire stations are a great example. Without events – like bingo, crab dinners, and carnivals – it is really challenging for them to raise the revenue they need to afford equipment and other things they need to serve our community.
And they’re not alone. Countless nonprofit organizations – your local youth sports programs and even us at the Chamber – rely on events and other streams of revenue that have severely suffered due to COVID.
If you usually attend events or take advantage of service offered by a nonprofit in the community, reach out and see if you can make a donation to them now – there’s a good chance they could really use it.
Want more ideas about how you can help your local businesses right now? Check out our previous posts in this series: Ways You Can Help Frederick Businesses and People Impacted by Coronavirus and How You Can Support Frederick Businesses As We Move to Reopen
Frederick Chamber Insights is a news outlet of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. For more information about membership, programs and initiatives, please visit our website.
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