For the past year, “business as usual” has been anything but. And the Newtown Chamber of Commerce has kept up with rapid-fire changes and challenges to members and local businesses by pivoting from promotion to incorporating advocacy into its efforts.

“The Chamber’s focus since the pandemic has shifted as members’ needs changed — we are advocating more for our membership,” Chamber Executive Director Helen Brickfield told The Newtown Bee this week. “We are listening to members’ needs along with consumers’ concerns and providing information and resources that not everyone can easily find.”

Brickfield explained that those needs ranged from resources for business counseling to information about PPP to business referrals — and many times, just being a sounding board for a small business owner.

“What we heard is that it is hard to keep up with the latest information about virus-related rules, programs, and the impact of the virus itself,” Brickfield said, “and we are hearing a lot of business owners and professionals are concerned about who to trust for accurate information.”

To help provide accurate information directly from its source regarding the current implications of the coronavirus pandemic, the Chamber and Brickfield organized a recent “Community Conversations” discussion about COVID with Newtown resident and “hometown hero” John M. Murphy, MD, chief executive officer of Nuvance Health and longtime CEO of Danbury Hospital.

Murphy led the conversation about the virus and its emerging variants, vaccines, and staying healthy. The free, taped webcast, which is available to the public, featured remarks by First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert, Newtown Community Center Executive Director Matt Ariniello, and Chamber President Judith Miller.

The recording of the discussion is posted on the Chamber’s Facebook site; it can also be found via links in the chamber, Newtown Community Center, and Senior Center e-mail newsletters.

Like Dr Murphy, Brickfield said the Chamber is “shifting toward optimism” as COVID positivity numbers dwindle and more swaths of the population are getting vaccinated.

“However,” Brickfield said, “we are asking businesses and consumers to keep up the good work of social distancing and wearing face coverings as prescribed by health agencies and experts.”

Finding The Time

“One of the challenges of being a small business owner is that you need to work in your business at the same time as you work on your business,” Brickfield observed. “That doesn’t leave a lot of time to keep up on all the latest information.”

It is no secret to Chamber members that the past year has pushed out a lot of information — and, of greater concern, misinformation — related to the virus and its impact on the local community and the state.

“It’s a lot to keep up with,” Brickfield empathized as leader of Newtown’s own nonprofit business support organization.

“As a chamber, we understand that Main Street is where the bulk of the jobs in the USA are created,” she said. “In order for those jobs to exist, we need high consumer confidence that one can visit, shop, and eat out safely.”

There are many sources of information about COVID-19, and Brickfield said.

“And the need for vaccines and continued social distancing was reinforced by Dr Murphy’s presentation on the big picture — complemented the town of Newtown and The Bee’s efforts to keep us all informed on the local and state level,” she said.

Murphy’s presentation includes information about the burden of care for COVID patients at Danbury Hospital, local vaccine efforts, vaccine efficacy and safety, concern about new variants, and his perspective about what the future may look like.

Ariniello, who was part of the webcast, said, “We are so grateful for Nuvance Health and its support of our community.”

He said local merchants are continuing to navigate the COVID-related challenges of staying open and serving the community, while at the same time keeping safety as a number one priority.

“But recreation is needed for both the physical and mental wellbeing of our community as well, and am happy to say that our team at the Community Center has done a great job supporting those needs safely,” he added.

Miller, whose career has included years of work in the health insurance realm, said, “Dr Murphy’s insight to the disease and various vaccines that are available was very informative and encouraging. With the warmer weather and more people being vaccinated, the chamber is looking forward to starting to plan social distanced events once again.”

Learn more about the chamber, its programs, events, and member benefits by visiting newtown-ct.com — or the nonprofit’s sites on Facebook and Instagram.