After a session that had sound advice for any visitor on how to mitigate or cope with COVID-19 related stress, the local Chamber of Commerce Business Leaders Forum returns to more business-centric subjects for its planned Monday, April 27 webcast.

The Facebook Live weekly webcast featuring community leaders and experts is the brainchild of local realtor and Police Commissioner Andrew Sachs, who also produces and hosts the activity. Monday’s webcast will key in on Re-Employment and SBA Loan Challenges.

Co-sponsored by the Chamber, The Newtown Bee, the town’s office of Economic & Community Development, eFriend Marketing, and Sachs’ “Around Town Team,” the webcast begins at 5:30 pm, and can be viewed on multiple Facebook sites including those maintained by Sachs, the Chamber, and The Newtown Bee.

To view Monday's webcast on The Newtown Bee’s site, CLICK HERE — and scroll down to the video panel.

This week’s panel will include introductions from First Selectman Dan Rosenthal and Chamber President Scott Anders, and loan issue updates from Ken Weinstein, President and CEO of Newtown Savings Bank, and Alan Clavette, CPA of Clavette & Company.

The re-employment discussion will bring in John Barry of ITech Consulting Partners & host of Northern Fairfield Professionals Meeting, and Bill Brimmer, a former Newtown selectman and management consultant with Learning Dynamics. Brimmer provides employment transition coaching to employees of major companies.

Barry and Brimmer will address community members who find themselves now unemployed and who have concerns that their job and/or their company may not be back after the crisis passes.

The discussion is scheduled to include best practices to proactively respond to this unemployment challenge and ideas on how to best deal with both the emotional fears and the practical challenges of competing for employment in the marketplace.

To ask questions during the event, simply type your questions on the Facebook page as you watch. Only questions entered on the Around Town and Chamber Facebook pages will be considered. However, business owners and others are welcome to submit questions before the event via e-mail to Chamber liaison Helen Brickfield at helenbrickfield@newtown-ct.com.

Last Week’s Webcast

Due to technical issues with the Facebook Live platform, last week’s panel addressing “Resiliency Under Stress” was captured and is available for viewing by CLICKING HERE

Beside Anders, Rosenthal, and Sachs, that session included information and advice from John Woodall, MD — private practitioner/psychiatrist, Newtown Police Sergeant Scott Ruszczyk, and Stephanie Cinque MSW, former director of Newtown Resiliency Center.

Rosenthal continued to promote the effort as a unique way to address issues that may be affecting a statewide or even global population, by making it uniquely hyperlocal by bringing in familiar faces already known to many in the community.

“John, Scott, and Stephanie all obviously have a lot of experience on the subject of discussion, and I think it’s comforting for folks watching to hear local voices sharing some of the same experiences that many others are feeling,” Rosenthal said. ‘They gave some helpful tips to folks on how to generally recalibrate and change their focus a bit to try and reduce the stress I think we all are feeling over this situation we are in every day.”

The first selectman observed that this — the third of the ongoing series — had the most general information for anyone, not just specifically business.

“It will be four weeks since this launched, and it’s a good time to circle back to a more strictly business focus as there has been some new funding announced,” he added, “so it will be great to hear back from some of the financial experts who joined us on the first webcast.”

Impressive Insights

Anders at the Chamber said he was “very impressed by the insight and practical ideas Stephanie, John, and Scott provided.”

“One of the phrases Dr Woodall shared was focusing on how to ‘suffer successfully’ in this difficult time,” Anders recalled. “Stephanie shared that to overcome stress you need friends and family to heal, and that while we need to ‘physically distance’ — we also need to socially connect.”

Sgt Ruszczyk added, “I think the most important lessons from Monday night would be to remember that social connections during difficult times are essential but often overlooked. At the end of the day it is better to count your blessings than your grievances.”

With the advent of the SBA loan funding and re-funding, Anders believes there are a lot of small businesses in town that will appreciate an update on this topic from Clavette and Weinstein. The topic of unemployment re-employment is enormous, and is probably the leading cause of stress among community members who are now involuntarily in this group, Anders added.

Clavette said he plans to comment and update viewers on the PPP loans, as well as offer some insight on the loan forgiveness strategies that are at least known so far.

Brickfield said she appreciates the input to date from all the Newtown business and community leaders who are stepping up to share their expertise.

“These are busy and trying times,” the chamber staff member said. “Businesses are ‘thinking out of the box,’ learning and trying new things while planning on how to open when it is time.”

The Newtown Bee is a charter member of the local Chamber of Commerce. Learn more about the chamber by CLICKING HERE