Rockville Chamber of Commerce
We make relationships happen.
We had another successful Good Morning Rockville series this morning with the Entrepreneur Panel. So much wisdom was shared by our panelists, Cindy Feldman of Progressions salon spa store and Dr. Josh Funk of Rehab 2 Perform.
If you were unable to attend, we invite you to watch the recording. Please see our events calendar for a full list of upcoming events.
Returning to the office with the same tactics and thinking you had in February of 2020 isn’t going to fly with today’s workforce. You have to think differently and know that people are different.
We had the pleasure of attending a Lunch & Learn at MoCo’s Founding Farmers on September 20th, which was sponsored by Shulman Rogers. Alex Castelli led the discussion on returning to the office in a post-Covid world, including:
Business owners, human resources professionals, and c-suite executives count on Alex Castelli for advice on a wide array of employment law issues. He protects their companies’ interests and ensures that they remain compliant with federal and state regulations, implements proactive policies that shield them from unnecessary court battles, and delivers educational workplace training to their staff. Alex also uses his knowledge and experience to provide counsel on day-to-day issues that arise and conduct internal investigations to help companies assess the viability of potential disputes.
His goal is to help clients effectively manage risk while balancing business realities in a rapidly evolving legal landscape.
If you were unable to attend the event, we are including a copy of the PowerPoint presentation for your review.
Maryland passed the Climate Solutions Now Act requiring a 60% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2031. Any business with a 35,000 sq. ft. or more facility, schools, and municipalities that do not comply will be assessed a penalty of $51 or more per ton. Penalties could start as early as 2024. This could cost a small facility, school or municipality thousands of dollars. Watch this video to learn more. If this issue applies to you call Joe Tabeling of CQI Associates at 443-472-3870 or email joe@cqiassociates.com
We had a wonderful crowd at our Mix & Mingle held at The Seneca in Rockville. Thank you to all who came out to support this event.
The Seneca’s classically trained culinary team creates meals that become moments to savor and they did not disappoint. At The Seneca, culinary experiences range from refined to casual, elegant to inspired – all menus feature farm-fresh ingredients and unique touches. They did not disappoint and served a delicious spread to our guests.
We had a special guest, Ben Wu, the President & CEO of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation in attendance. He presented our President & CEO, Marji Graf with a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of her support, efforts, and leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Would you like to join us for future Mix & Mingle Events? Please visit our calendar of events and register to attend upcoming events.
The Rockville Chamber of Commerce was able to continue all of its offerings throughout COVID without skipping a beat or having to dip into any reserves! We were able to obtain 8 grants.
We were an information HUB between the State, County and City of Rockville to provide updated information to the business community. We called every member to see how they were doing and what resources we could bring to them.
We pivoted all of our programs to zoom. All of our monthly programs continued to run: Our quarterly education series, Good Morning Rockville; Our monthly lunch and learn program, Let’s Do Lunch (virtually); and our monthly networking events, Mix and Mingles. We partnered with other Chambers and Associations so our members could meet other businesses in different areas. We also provided monthly webinars with the SBA, Aronson, SHS, and held panel discussions regarding Economic Development, Entrepreneur Panel, Real Estate panel and our professional development series, Leadercast.
We held our Annual events on zoom in 2020. State of the City, Public Safety Awards and Rockstar Awards.
In 2021 we began outdoor hybrid events. State of the City, Public Safety Awards, Golf Tournament, Economic Development panel discussion and Rockstar Awards.
We walked the business communities with the County, REDI and Board Chair to have a presence and show the businesses we were there for them and could provide the resources they might need. We had an up-to-date Resource page on our NEW website with all COVID related information about PPP loans/grants. We were active participants on a weekly Small Business committee by the County and represented our small businesses. i.e shuttered Venues to reopen Adventure Theatre and Escape rooms.
We worked with the City of Rockville and Rockville Economic Development to assist businesses with outdoor seating and PPE.
We pivoted our previous program, Rockville Rewards, and created a new website with downloadable cards and new ecommerce offerings. We also integrated the program under the Rockville Chamber of Commerce umbrella, not just a stand-alone program. We were still able to give our non-profit partners the critical funds they have come to enjoy by splitting all sales evenly amongst those participants.
2020/2021 our Non-profit partners generated $22,690.65 as a result of selling 972 Rockville Reward cards and products.
Musu Wheeler of Integrative Health Recreation & Musu Wellness encourages us to move as we join in this week’s Wellness Wednesday. She encourages us to bring a little happiness into the room by getting our bodies into motion.
This and every Wellness Wednesday are brought to you by Life Energy Foundation. Each week is presented by a different provider in our community to help us check in with ourselves and keep a finger on the pulse of our own wellbeing.