Did anybody else feel the shift? I think it started in the middle of last month or even a couple of months before that. I don’t really think there was one singular occurrence or definable moment, but it feels like someone has turned the dial up on tension and subsequently anxiety in the workplace.
The pandemic delivered a shock to the local economy and as a result, the job market may never be the same. There is a labor shortage. Each business and their workers are feeling it daily and the business owners take it home with them at night; they’re tired—they never got a break, and now they’re doing more with even fewer employees. Perhaps everyone is a little jaded, and we’re just “over it.” Perhaps in the past few months, the level of pandemic exhaustion has caused us to become more concerned with trying to prove a point or being right about the virus, masks, vaccines, politics and theories. In this season of uncertainty, our community should work more fervently than ever to paint our town in messages of hope, to have a little extra patience and compassion for the businesses that are short staffed, and come together to lift each other up.
We, your local Chamber of Commerce, are here for you! The mission of the Conifer Chamber of Commerce is to help small businesses succeed. We offer a host of programs and resources to support you and your business. You don’t have to go it alone—we are here to help and are committed to your success!
Businesses join the Chamber to be a part of something bigger. They join because it offers great opportunities to get connected in our community, to promote their business and to help make this community better. If you were able to attend Elevation Celebration at the end of July, you saw firsthand how dedicated volunteers and businesses came together to create an amazing community event; one which was long overdue! It doesn’t stop there. Throughout the year, and outside of the big community events, businesses here at the Chamber volunteer for Highway Clean Up crews to help beautify our area. Volunteers meet with county commissioners and other local representatives to improve HWY 285. Ambassadors, Chamber members and our board of directors enthusiastically go to each ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of a new business in our community and to show their support. The list is endless, and we are constantly working to support our local community, businesses and each other. These are a few of the many ways we support Conifer.
I know that every now and then, I need to take a moment to pause and question, “Am I right? Am I sure? And does being right really matter in the end?” Hopefully what truly matters is that we as individuals celebrate each other, our businesses, and support the amazing community in which we get to live and thrive every day.
