Uncertainty is running rampant through our community and others as COVID-19 tears through our normal way of life.
Our government leaders have asked us to practice social distancing, wash our hands and avoid large gatherings in order to slow the spread of the virus so the resources of our hospitals and health care system are not exhausted to the point that lives are cut short.
Schools have been closed in Washington. So have restaurants, bars and many other businesses.
The bottom line is that many small businesses in our community — the same ones that employ our friends and neighbors and help provide us with the ability to publish The Chronicle — are hurting now and will continue to feel shockwaves in the weeks and months ahead.
Our message is this: We stand with you, and we are prepared to use our resources in print and online to help put your products, services and histories before the eyes of our readers.
In addition to a temporary and significant reduction in the cost of advertising, we are launching two new efforts to support our fellow local businesses.
As we announced on Facebook Friday night, The Chronicle will be offering free feature stories to local businesses impacted in any way by the spread of COVID-19. These stories will be published in print and online, where we average 1 million pageviews per month at chronline.com and have more than 20,000 Facebook followers.
They will be published outside of our subscription paywall in order to reach as many community members as possible.
When our writers reach out (and we request patience as there are already a significant number of requests) tell us how you are making your products available. Provide a featured menu or product offering. Tell us about your delivery or takeout services. Share the story of your establishment, how it was founded and where it’s going in the future. Tell us about your favorite employees. Make your pleas to the public if the losses are intensifying.
We will begin publishing these feature stories on Thursday, utilizing what were formerly areas of our Sports section for what will now be our new Local Business section.
Send requests to news@chronline.com. We will work through them as fast as we can.
Additionally, we’re adding a quicker option for businesses to get the word out about their offerings. Building on the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce Bizz Buzz monthly section published in The Chronicle, we will be accepting brief business news items directly from businesses. They can include, but are not limited to, business news, awards, new hires, featured menu items, information on gift cards and promotions. We ask that you keep the briefs to 200 words or less, but exceptions will be made. They can be emailed to chroniclebusinessbriefs@gmail.com or mailed to The Chronicle, 321 N. Pearl St., Centralia, attention Eric Trent.
We’ll publish them all together in the Local Business section for as long as space remains available in order to provide just one more small way to reach the community. They will also be published online.
As a business, we are obviously not immune to the effects of the CONVID-19 outbreak. Canceled events lead to canceled advertisements. Closed businesses don’t often advertise. Uncertainty leads to tightened purse strings from boardrooms to dinner tables. If you’re not a subscriber, we’d ask, as always, that you consider becoming one by calling 360-736-3311 or visiting chronline.com.
In any case, our COVID-19 coverage will continue to be free online at chronline.com.
The popular journalist’s refrain “we live here too” remains true today.
We hope that these initiatives will help our fellow businesses as we continue together into the unknown.
