The Georgia Chamber hosted a member-wide press conference call that drew 1,000 participants to hear national and state experts in healthcare, business and the chamber industry share the latest information regarding COVID-19. Georgia businesses and local communities were encouraged to follow the leadership of Governor Kemp and his teams while continuing to make fact-based decisions related to individual operations.
 
“The Georgia Chamber is fully supporting state leadership on the COVID-19 global health challenge and we encourage everyone to do the same for the well-being of our citizens and our economy,” said Chris Clark, President and CEO of the Georgia Chamber. “Georgia still remains open for business and is following the expert recommendations of state and national organizations to make informed decisions for local businesses and communities.”
 
Experts on the call included:

Brooks Nelson, Senior Director of Global Resilience for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Alejandro Contreras, Director of Preparedness, Communication and Coordination, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

Matt Owenby, Chief Human Resources Officer, Aflac, Inc. -and-

Robert A. Bednarczyk, PhD, Assistant Professor, Emory University Hubert Department of Global Health & Rollins School of Public Health

Speakers shared information on preparedness resources and small business disaster relief loans being offered through SBA (www.sba.gov/disaster), the private sector’s call for continued rational decision-making and the public health department’s work to manage potential burden of this issue on the healthcare system. Overall, the call demonstrated the collaboration of teams at both local and national levels to respond, mitigate and manage COVID-19, encouraging the business and local communities to remain calm and be smart.
 
Up-to-date information and resources can continue to be found on the Georgia Chamber website through its dedicated COVID-19 landing page, www.gachamber.com/covid19. The Georgia Chamber has refined its conference call technology and will be hosting a second call with further update at a time to be determined and announced next week, March 16, 2020.