WVCC Thanks Community for Combating Spread of COVID19

The North Central Region moves forward to Phase 2 effective Sunday February 14^th thanks to the actions taken by our community. The Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce (WVCC) is grateful to our community for acting swiftly, and effectively to combat the spread of COVID19. The partnerships built between business, the non-profit sector, the medical community and public health officials is key to our success, and to our future. We know many community members answered the call to “gather responsibly” over the holidays and have remained vigilant in slowing the spread of COVID19.

While this announcement once again allows businesses, who have been closed since mid-November, the opportunity to reopen, the process ahead remains unclear and unpredictable. Our businesses need a predictable roadmap to safely operate. Unfortunately, the current reopening plan still leaves major sectors of our economy with no ability to plan or bring employees back, for more than two weeks. It takes a lot of planning and capital for a business to adjust to a changing environment and some businesses will not be able to make those changes. We urge the public to remain supportive and understanding if a business chooses to remain closed or operate at limited capacity.

The WVCC calls on the Governor and Legislature to work together to create a more predictable and equitable path forward for the entire State of Washington. Businesses have been protectors, not infectors in the fight against COVID19 creating safe places where public health mitigation strategies including masking, distancing and hand washing can be enforced. It is imperative that commerce return to our communities at a rate that allows all of our businesses to be sustainable.

The WVCC is incredibly disappointed to hear our neighboring South Central Region remains in phase 1. This region includes Benton, Franklin and Yakima Counties who, like Chelan and Douglas counties, were disproportionately impacted by the original phase reopening plan. We believe all of Washington’s businesses must re-open, and can do so safely, so that our economies can rebound as vaccinations increase, and we head into the spring and summer months.

The WVCC wants to thank the Chelan Douglas Health District and the Town Toyota Center for the incredible amount of work they have done to stand up and operate the State Department of Health’s mass vaccination site in partnership with the National Guard efficiently. Our way forward as a community and as a state is through increased vaccinations and we are grateful to our local health leaders for taking a challenging situation and making it work successfully in our community.