Members of the teams involved in the Emporia-Lyon County Road to Recovery planning effort have gathering a lot of data as they start outlining best practices for getting the community back to full strength.
A steering committee is getting help from seven teams and two team subsets representing different aspects of community life, including business, arts, entertainment and nonprofit organizations. Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce says it is important to ensure the health of the entire community, not just different sectors.
Team members have been directed to research the current situation, learn more about forecasts or trends and research possible solutions. McKenna says the overall goal of the plan is to use lessons from the coronavirus pandemic and get businesses, arts, entertainment and nonprofits to positions where they are at least as strong as they were going into the pandemic. Another goal is to have the community better positioned in case there is a second wave of cases.
The current goal is to have the plan finished by the end of May. McKenna says it may need regular reviews with the COVID-19 situation still rapidly evolving after the pandemic was announced in March.
More information is available by calling the Chamber at 342-1600 or by going online to www.emporiakschamber.org. Residents are also encouraged to take part in a Road to Recovery survey on the Chamber website’s COVID-19 tab.
