April 25, 2020 — Around the middle of March, the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce brought together a group of senior business leaders to discuss what their local business community needed. That was the beginning THRIVE Winter Park. It is a part of the Winter Park Improvement Foundation-the 501(c)3 arm of the chamber- and helps address those needs of the business community. They have three goals:
-Meet immediate needs in our community, like supporting restaurants to bring meals to hospital workers
-Evaluate emerging needs and build recovery models
-Build capacity for a robust recovery
They are currently commissioning an economic study that will provide valuable data to help local businesses as they try to budget operating expenses for the rest of the year. It will provide an understanding of what is going to happen for each month that the COVID 19 pandemic continues. The study is being funded by a $30,000 grant from the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation. Betsy Gardner Eckbert is the President and CEO of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and says "It's about business resilience. How do we bring our businesses back to life after this shock." They are also actively meeting their first goal of feeding health care workers, and in turn, helping support the local restaurants from where those meals are purchased.
[ To learn more about THRIVE Winter Park’s initiatives, or to make a donation, click here. ]