Unsure whether your favorite local spot is still open for take-out, or if its doors have been shut for the foreseeable future?
Your local chamber of commerce may have the answer.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic — which has forced a number of businesses to reconsider how they provide services while shuttering the doors of others — the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, the North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce and the Greenfield Business Association, among others, have created lists identifying which businesses are open and which are closed.
“We’ve been getting so many calls asking about what’s open and what’s not, so it seemed like a natural thing to do,” said Lisa Davol, marketing and events manager at the Greenfield-based Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. “We’re here to help businesses and promote what they’re doing.”
As of March 31, an executive order from Gov. Charlie Baker requires all businesses that don’t offer COVID-19 essential services to close their physical workspace to workers, customers and the public through May 4. Non-essential businesses and services can continue operating through remote means, according to the order, but even certain essential services — particularly in the food industry — have been forced to adjust how they provide services to accommodate social distancing guidelines and restrictions on gatherings of 10 or more.
Restaurants, for example, have had to shift to an entirely take-out or delivery service model. Others, however, such as the Blue Heron Restaurant in Sunderland or The Farm Table in Bernardston, have opted to shut down their business entirely.
The status of each business changes every day, according to Davol.
“It’s really overwhelming for people, if they don’t know where to go … for information,” Davol said. “You can follow different companies on Facebook, but you’ll have to go to individualized pages.”
The chamber’s list, which can be found at bit.ly/3c0dHIG, aims to provide a centralized location for people to find out what’s open and what’s closed in their area, she said. It also provides users with links to the business’ websites for the most current information.
The Athol-based North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce, Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association (GSFABA) and Greenfield Business Association each offer lists of local restaurants, package stores, grocery stores and cafes that are open but operating in different ways.
Users can access the North Quabbin Chamber’s list by visiting northquabbinchamber.com and selecting “emergency resources.” The Greenfield Business Association’s list can be found at greenfieldbusiness.org/whos-open, and the GSFABA list can be accessed on the Shelburne Falls Village Network Facebook page, where Whit Sanford posts an updated list weekly.
“We hope the list will grow to include more people,” said Sanford, secretary to the association.
Although chambers tend to serve only businesses that are part of their membership, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce has opened its list to include non-members, too. Any business owner can contact Davol at lisa@franklincc.org to have their information included.
“Helping the whole community is important to us,” Davol said.
She noted that members have the additional benefit of being able to upload press releases to the news section of the chamber’s page, ensuring the most up-to-date information.
Rachel Roberts, coordinator of the Greenfield Business Association, said the GBA is also including non-member businesses in its ‘Who’s Open?’ list.
“We’ve always been promoters of our member businesses, but once things started closing down we decided what needed to happen was to give overall support for businesses in Greenfield,” she explained.
Roberts said the Greenfield Business Association’s list, which is updated every morning, aims to provide people with a single resource documenting where they can go to get the things they need.
The North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce has also opened up its services to non-members during the pandemic, according to Executive Director Melissa Eaton.
“We realized everyone would be personally and economically affected … and it was going to get worse,” she said. “We realized businesses are the backbone of our community, and all of them are going to be hit hard.”
She added, “If we’re not there for them now, they wouldn’t be there for us in the future.”
Eaton said businesses can call, email or message the chamber on Facebook if they would like to have their business added to the list. The phone number is 978-249-3849 and the email is info@northquabbinchamber.com.
“If anyone knows a business in the region that is open,” she said, “we’ll get them included on the list.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.