Mount Pleasant Magazine Documenting Covid-19

66 www.CoronavirusMag.com | www.ReadMPM.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com feature A s COVID-19 spread its malicious tentacles throughout the Lowcountry, bringing all but a few sectors of the commercial world to a virtual standstill and isolating local residents from their friends, business associates, shopping and activity venues and, in some cases, even their family members, one local organization offered what many people sought: information. The Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce collected and made available to its members a wealth of useful knowledge, from proclamations offered by Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie and Gov. Henry McMaster to coronavirus guidelines from President Donald Trump and just about everything else in between. Some of the information was available at the Coronavirus Resource Center located on the organization’s website, while the Chamber also kept East Cooper businesses up to date with webinars and online interviews. “Our website was a one-stop shop for information about the coronavirus,” Chamber President Shane Griffin pointed out. “We were constantly updating the information. It was a great value to the community because it gave businesses the latest information and explained how it affected them.” Griffin said much of the information on the Chamber website came from government entities, such as the town of Mount Pleasant and the state of South Carolina, as well as from the U.S. and South Carolina Chambers of Commerce. It also arrived almost every day from Joe Russo, Trump’s special assistant and director of business outreach. Emails from the White House Office of Public Liaison provided a wealth of information concerning COVID-19, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and federal assistance to small businesses. “Sometimes we got several emails a day, and we chose what was most important to our members to post on our Coronavirus Resource Center page,” Griffin commented. In addition to data, the Chamber website offered analysis and tips from government agencies and other chambers. The site also included information provided by local businesses. Were you interested in which local restaurants were offering takeout service after eateries were prohibited from serving customers in their dining areas? Would it have been helpful to know which businesses were still open and when? Maybe you were looking for a special discount from a Chamber member. All this information and more was available in the Coronavirus Resource Center. In addition, the Chamber kept its members and the BY BRIAN SHERMAN Serious Decisions TheMount Pleasant ChamberwasThere toHelp Photo by Juli Kaplan.