The executive committee of the Temple Chamber of Commerce voted on Friday, July 24 to accept the recommendation from the Business & Community Development Pillar to cancel the upcoming 2020-2021 Leadership Temple Class.

It was determined holding the usual meetings, site visits, and group work gatherings was just not going to be possible due to the COVID-19 environment.

An in-depth look at all alternatives was conducted to try and keep this year’s edition on track. In the end, it was decided that the safety of everyone involved was priority. It was felt that to do anything less than what is expected from Leadership Temple programs of the past, would take away from the unique experience Leadership Temple provides today. 

In the meantime, let us all embrace the guidelines. Social distancing, wearing a mask, washing your hands, and frequent use of hand sanitizer so we can begin to move forward as a community again.


YOUR BUSINESS. YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR CHAMBER.

G. Roderick Henry
Temple Chamber of Commerce

254.314.8260 (direct)
254.773.2105 (office)
254.423.6235 (cell)

 

TEMPLE, TX – The City of Temple has partnered with United Way and the Temple Chamber of Commerce in response to the economic hardships experienced by small businesses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organizations have established a Small Business Grant Program in an effort to retain jobs and stabilize local businesses. This program provides gap financing for businesses that have lost revenue as a result of social distancing and are at risk of layoffs or closure.

The program is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant – Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds.

“The primary goal of the program is to provide support so that businesses can retain jobs held by low to moderate income persons,” said Stephanie O’Banion, United Way CEO. “We are also hoping to provide assistance to microenterprises with low to moderate income owners. We know that these businesses are vital to the economic health and well-being of our community.”

The program will use $90,000 of CDBG-CV funds to provide grants of up to $5,000 to businesses with up to fifty (50) full-time equivalent employees at the time of application, or up to five (5) full-time equivalent employees with a low to moderate income owner. The business must demonstrate a loss of gross revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to be considered for funding.

Applications will be accepted through August 5, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. on the United Way website.

Due to the anticipated number of submissions and limited funding, applications will be processed by an evaluation committee composed of United Way, Temple Chamber of Commerce, and City of Temple staff.

For more information about this program, contact the United Way by calling 211 or visiting www.uwct.org.
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The application can be found here.