To learn more, click here!
 

The Washington County Chamber of Commerce is here to support our Members and community during this troubling time, so please reach out to us if there is anything we can do.

For precaution, we have canceled all meetings in the Chamber building and the Chamber will be working remotely until further notice. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Below, you will find important information on how to protect your families and yourselves from COVID-19 (aka: coronavirus) and guidance and assistance for operating a business during this time.

Please remember to remain calm, wash your hands, and practice proper safety precautions as is the standard for all contagious illnesses.

Stay safe out there!





Hey Washington County, let's play bingo!

Here's a few ideas on how you can take action to keep our local community thriving during these uncertain times.​





To learn more about the new Federal tax date and how it might effect you, click here.

 

In order to assist the community during this time, the UGA Archway Partnership created this helpful guide with information and resources involving COVID-19. To view the resource guide, feel free to click here.





If you aren’t feeling well, if your health is compromised, or you simply want to reduce your chance of exposure, we encourage you to use our drive thru window or our delivery service. If you currently use a pharmacy that doesn’t deliver, we welcome you at Sandersville Drug Co. Prescription transfers are easy. Just give us a call.

If you have fever or flu-like symptoms, please remain at home. Call us with your medication needs and we will make arrangements to have them delivered to you. We accept payment with credit or debit over the phone. Also, if you have fever or flu-like symptoms, please do not enter the pharmacy but use the drive Thru to reduce exposure. We are here to serve you. Please call us at 552-7333, and let us know how we can help.



Chamber member, Pineland Cogentes provides the following free offer for all Washington County Chamber members:

 Folks, please don’t create even greater risk to your company by trying to roll your own work from home implementation. Please engage the help of a professional. With so many companies looking to enable work from home, bad guys are in a feeding frenzy taking advantage of poorly patched systems and insecure remote work setups. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Department of Homeland Security’s cyber agency, issued an alert on Friday warning that malicious cyber actors are taking advantage of poorly patched network devices to compromise systems through remote access capabilities. They also warned of increased phishing attacks via email during this time.

Pineland Cogentes is here to help you ensure that your work from strategy and infrastructure is secure and not creating a risk for you company, your employees and your customers. We are providing free secure remote access capabilities through our support system for those who need it and don’t have the infrastructure today. Regardless of the path you take to allow remote access to your environment, we urge you to seek professional help to make sure it is secure.

Please call them today at (404) 424-8585 for assistance.





Click here for the full list of cleaning tips!


 

Georgia Chamber Updates Businesses and Local Communities on COVID-19
Chamber works with Anthem to Communicate Member Cost-Waiver for Virus Testing

The Georgia Chamber is supporting a fact-based approach to the COVID-19 public health and economic challenge, emphasizing hard data, to keep the Georgia economy moving.
 

Employers and citizens should use the following regularly updated resources:

• Georgia Chamber Resource Webpage: https://www.gachamber.com/COVID-19/
• Centers for Disease Control Links:
  CDC | What you need to know about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  CDC | Stop the Spread of Germs (COVID-19)
• Georgia DPH Resource Webpage: Georgia Department of Public Health| Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• US Chamber Resource Page: https://www.uschamber.com/coronavirus

 

STAR Winners



The Annual STAR Luncheon was held at Sandersville United Methodist Church on Wednesday, February 19th.

WCHS STAR Student: Taylor Jackson, Teacher: Mr.Seth Watts. Brentwood School STAR Student & County Winner: Christopher Kitchens, Teacher: Mrs.Traci Upton. Meal: Tina’s Catering. Floral: Wiles Florist. Sponsors: Citizens Bank of the South, B-H Transfer, and Queensborough Bank.



Fun at the March Business After Hours

  

We had a great time hanging out with our Members at the March Business after Hours! Special thanks to Georgia Military College for hosting and Chester Dean's for providing the food!
 

Don't Post Signs on State Right of Way

Posting unauthorized signs on the state’s right of way are a safety hazard and illegal.
 
Whether it’s a political sign, yard sale, real estate, or goods and services, signs on the state highway system – interstates and state routes – must be approved and permitted to be placed on the right of way.
 
Unauthorized signs can create safety hazards by distracting drivers and obstructing their view. During inclement weather signs can also cause debris that clogs drainage systems.
 
Georgia Code 32-6-51 states that “it shall be unlawful for any person to erect, place or maintain within the right of way of any public road any sign, signal or other device except as authorized by subsection (d) of this Code section.” Violation is a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine up to $1,000 and/or 12 months in jail. 

It’s not unusual for GDOT district maintenance employees to uproot thousands of signs across the state during an election year. The signs are taken to GDOT district headquarters and held for 30 days, giving the owners an opportunity to reclaim them. If not reclaimed, they are destroyed. To reclaim signs that have been removed by Department maintenance, contact your local GDOT office.​
 

Due to the new Shelter in Place emergency set for the state of Georgia, only essential businesses will remain open until further notice. However, you can still support many of the local businesses in your area. Many local businesses are still able to offer drive-thru and takeout options, delivery services, and online orders. Please check the social media pages of local businesses to see what they offer during this time.







Dear Members,⁣
⁣
We pray this letter finds you and your family healthy and staying safe in these unprecedented times. Now that we’ve had a moment to get through the whirlwind of the last several weeks, we wanted to provide you with an update on your membership.⁣
⁣
We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of our members and staff. That’s why we are following the guidance and recommendations set by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the state of Georgia in playing our part in the COVID-19 containment efforts. Per guidelines from the state of GA, Anytime Fitness of Sandersville is temporarily closed. ⁣
⁣
We sincerely want to thank each of our members for your support & loyalty! We are an independently owned & operated small business franchise with a local staff that depends on you to keep our doors open and provide our livelihoods so we can help each member with their health & fitness journey.⁣
⁣
As you know, our motto is “Let’s make healthy happen.” We say “Let’s” (short for “LET US”) because our goal is to truly help you. In these uncertain times we feel we can do two things to help you right now.. ⁣
⁣
1) We are freezing your membership payments. This simply puts a temporary pause on everything in regards to your gym membership and payment. Although many gyms are continuing to charge through this time, we felt this was a simple way we could support you. Once we are permitted to re-open, your membership will return to active status, your key fob will work, & regular membership fees will resume. Due to the billing company & bank processing timeline, all dues will be frozen effective April 6, 2020.⁣
⁣
2) While the gym may be temporarily closed, we are working to provide as many resources for you as we can, so you can continue your fitness journey—anytime & anywhere.





From the Director

The staff and board of Lockerly are always focused on providing the safest and most enjoyable experience for our guests.  To that end, please be assured that we are monitoring the dynamic and evolving situation with regards to the COVID-19 novel Coronavirus and all its potential impacts. 
 
We want you to know that we take the health of our visitors, volunteers and staff very seriously.  As an outdoor venue with ample fresh air to breathe, Lockerly Arboretum continues to be a great place to go to find respite, solace, and peace in these uncertain times. We encourage you to continue visiting Lockerly for your mental, emotional and physical well being.  30 to 60 minutes of moderate activity can help your immune system keep viruses at bay, can help clear your head and reduce anxiety.
 
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Happy Trails,
Jennifer Pollard, Executive Director
 

To learn more about the SMART Benefit Program and other Member benefits, click here!