Letter: EDC and Halls Road Committee Boost Local Business, Solicit Feedback

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The Economic Development Commission and the Halls Road Improvements Committee of Old Lyme are both committed to supporting local businesses. We have been earnestly working on ideas on how best to express this support in a substantive way for our businesses impacted by the pandemic.

Our businesses are facing challenges they never could have imagined just a short while ago. A small town like Old Lyme has limited resources. But fortunately, what we do have is a strong sense of community and a reputation for coming to the aid of others in need.

With this in mind, we have three ideas we would like to share with you, and we welcome yours.

First, we want to remind you to patronize local business whenever possible. Our business community has a solid track record of providing sponsorships and donations to an array of organizations and causes. They have earned our support! We realize many businesses are currently closed, but some are open, and others are operating online. Before we look elsewhere, we need to remind ourselves to first ask if local businesses can fill our needs. Remember, if businesses in our town fail, our tax base will suffer and we will all be faced with additional financial hardship.

Second, we are sure there are other ways we might assist businesses, and we welcome all ideas about how both the town and the community can be supportive. We encourage businesses and townspeople to email their ideas to us at our email address listed below.

Finally, some business that have successfully revised their strategies brought on by the unique challenges they are facing, we would love to hear their stories, and promote their new business models, and share them with the community. Additionally, we hope their examples will inspire and encourage other businesses to find a prosperous path forward. Please email your stories to us.

Over the last year, the Economic Development Committee and Halls Road Improvements Committee have been working on generating both a “smart growth” economic strategy for the entire town as well as a road map for improving Halls Road. We think these efforts should continue to move forward. We believe they will help position our businesses, for not only the other side of the pandemic, but far into the future. Successfully facing the unique pandemic challenges, will eventually lead to more competitive, resilient and sustainable businesses insuring the town’s long-term economic viability.

Please visit the EDC’s website to learn more about our ongoing activities. We welcome all of your ideas, input and suggestions. Our email address is edc@oldlyme-ct.gov