Get Into Grinnell Blog

It felt to me as though the days in March & April drug on forever, and yet here we are and it's May 21. For me it's hard to believe how quickly May has gone. All the while, our team is on week 10 of this work-from-home/school-from-home gig and are now starting to slowly think about the transition back to the office. There are many considerations as we do so; many of the same considerations that our businesses have been facing for the last several weeks, and some of them are still weighing the best option for them, their team and their business. 

Some of them have reopened, some of them are yet to reopen, some of them will encourage or mandate new policies such as mask wearing for employees and customers and some won't. As we continue to experience new highs and lows of this pandemic, I want to urge each of us to remember to be kind and give grace. 

While everyone is in the midst of the pandemic, we are all coping with it in different ways. The stress and stressors are different for each and every one of us, and they are very real. Restaurants and retailers are as stressed about how they accommodate a new normal as many of you are about going to these establishments. Some people want to wear facemasks while others don't. It's okay to not agree wholeheartedly about the 'right' way to reopen but please try to remember to give grace during this time. Give grace to the essential healthcare workers, to the cashier at the grocery store, to the facilities teams, to your children, to the restaurant worker who started their first shift back to a very new experience, to yourself, and everyone in between. 

Be patient, be positive and be kind. 

--Rachael Kinnick 

For years, we have recognized the first week of May as National Small Business Week, National Nurses Day and Teacher Appreciation Week. It's fair to say that 'thank you' to each of these groups of individuals takes on new meaning. Does it seem ironic that each of these have been magnified as a result of the pandemic?! 

As a parent of young children, who has been working from home for 7+ weeks while simultaneously homeschooling, I can say without a doubt that while I've always appreciated teachers for the incredible work they do to educate our future, that appreciation is taken to a whole new level this year. To all the teachers in and around Grinnell, and across the state and country, THANK YOU for all you do on a 'normal' day let alone these times of 'new normal'. 

Nurses...where do I start? Putting yourselves on the frontlines of this pandemic every single day to keep our friends, families and neighbors as safe as possible. THANK YOU! I believe we have some pretty amazing nurses at each of our healthcare institutions which has only been exemplified over the last several weeks. We appreciate all you do, day in and day out, pandemic or not, and are incredibly grateful for your tenacity and courage to keep going every day. 

And finally, our small businesses. While Small Business Week has technically been postponed and will be celebrated at a later time this year, we're recognizing you anyway! You all have endured so much change and volatility over the last several weeks, and you continue to persevere - THANK YOU! We cannot wait until the day you are all fully open again, and while we know that may look different (masks, counter shields, more hand sanitizer, etc) know that we are anxiously awaiting being able to support all of our small businesses in person again! Small businesses have historically employed the majority of Americans, and while we know many layoffs have had to happen at small businesses as a result of the pandemic, we also believe our small businesses will continue to respond in resilient ways and will grow as a result of these challenges. Small businesses are the heart of a community, and we are happy to support them in a multitude of ways. 

Join me this week as we say THANK YOU to all our teachers, nurses and small business owners. You're all amazing! 

--Rachael Kinnick 

p.s. As businesses consider reopening strategies, we want to help connect you to PPE! If you represent a business, would you take two minutes to complete this survey?

Already a month has passed since we launched the Grinnell Small Business Relief Fund with the help and support from our colleagues at Grinnell Mutual and Grinnell College. Since that time, the fund has continued to grow from financial support from many of you and we are excited to share that the first round of funding has already been distributed. Almost forty small businesses were assisted through this fund in some capacity and while we know it will not make them whole (nothing will), we are hopeful it will help them be able to keep the doors open post-pandemic. 

“The GSBR was the first funding made available to us. We applied for it immediately and received a grant that went towards our utility bill,” said Alicia Blankenfeld, co-owner of Total Choice Shipping and Printing in downtown Grinnell. They then found a business opportunity to help support the fund that helped them. If you haven't already, you can purchase a yard sign or decal to show your community spirit and resiliency while also supporting the Small Business Relief Fund to help businesses just like Total Choice and so many others in our community; 40% of each purchase will be donated directly back to the fund.  

If you find yourself in a position to help support our small businesses via this fund, monetary donations can be made here. And if you'd like to show your Grinnell pride at the same time, you can purchase some of the swag to also help support our small businesses! 

We appreciate you doing all you can to help support our local businesses and organizations during these uncertain times. It truly takes a village, and we have one of the best in Grinnell! 

--Rachael Kinnick

p.s. Our hearts go out to St. Francis Manor, their residents and staff this week with news of a COVID outbreak. We know our community is already rallying around them in incredible ways, and we want you all to know you have our continued support in these challenging times!

By now it is likely that many of you have started receiving stimulus checks being issued as a way to increase economic support during COVID-19. At the same time, many of our small businesses are struggling. Some of them have been shut down completely, others have components of their businesses available but all of them are in the same boat and have been negatively impacted by this virus. As you receive your stimulus check, whether this week or next, next month or after, I would encourage each of us as Grinnellians to consider how that money has the ability to generate positive waves in our community. If each of you reading this note took just 5% (which may amount to more for some folks than others) of what you receive and spend it with a local business to support them or one of the ideas mentioned below, that would equate to nearly $300,000 to our Grinnell community! Will this make them whole? Of course not, but it may be the ticket to keep them from having to close their doors post-pandemic. 

You can support many businesses through the Grinnell Gift Card program(purchase a gift card now to spend later!), or by making a donation to the Grinnell Small Business Relief Fund, a program our office is administering to aid Grinnell businesses in the form of small grants. If you're still not sure of the best way to support a local business, we encourage you to reach out and ask them directly! 

Additionally, there are a number of efforts underway to support fellow community members and nonprofit organizations including the Grinnell Food Coalition and the Nonprofit Emergency Relief Fund. These two collaborative efforts are raising dollars to support individuals who may be experiencing hunger through food vouchers to be spent at area grocery stores and raising dollars to help support the nonprofit organizations that have, or are likely to have, challenges as a result of COVID, respectively.  

Please consider the various ways you can stimulate our local economy and support our neighbors in the process. And when you do, please share it via social using #GRINNtogether while tagging the Chamber so we can help spread the positive community collaborations occurring on a daily basis. 

--Rachael Kinnick

p.s. You can also play Grinnell BINGO while you pass your days. Download this game to find creative ways to help support and uplift our community! 

I'm pretty sure I started last week's newsletter with 'Wow, what a week!' but it feels pertinent to start this week's with the same. I hope you are all holding up okay as we make daily, sometimes hourly, adaptations into a 'new normal' as a result of COVID-19. So much has happened since we sent our regular communication just a week ago, and I am certain that much more will be different before next week's newsletter. 

With this ever-changing situation it seems as though negativity is beginning to take hold. As we see positive things happening, we want to ask that you use #GRINNtogether to share stories. Show our business owners, community leaders, healthcare professionals, public safety teams, store clerks, and so many more that we are in this together, and we support Grinnell. Plus it just brings a grin to your face, right? At least it does to mine, and I'm confident we could all use a grin right about now! 

Yesterday we hosted a Facebook Live event with member, Jennifer Weinman Photography, who primarily works from home AND homeschools two children. With so many people making a shift to working from home due to the virus, we felt it was timely to ask her for some tips and tricks! If you didn't catch it live, you can stream it here (skip ahead 2.5 min to start). Allow me to share a few of my favorites from our virtual time together: batching work -- attempt to pull like-projects together and work on them at the same time; identify a schedule -- especially if you'll have kids around while working from home, make sure you create a schedule (and let your kids help!) that will allow all of you to have productive time; and finally, remember to give grace - to yourself and to those on virtual meetings. Everyone has a new normal, and it's important to give each other grace as we navigate these days and weeks to come. 

--Rachael Kinnick 

p.s. We launched a Grinnell Eats graphic on social earlier today. It's a great resource listing our local eateries, their hours and delivery methods.