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 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!
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.
Produce Safety Guide
Handling Groceries during COVID-19
Sanitizing Reusable Grocery Bags
Georgia farmers and agricultural producers eager to sell abundant supplies of fresh produce and other products are being connected with consumers and other buyers who need their products through a new partnership between University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Georgia Grown program.
Because of disruptions to the industry triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, many agricultural producers in Georgia — particularly smaller growers and producers — are experiencing difficulties getting their products out to those who can use them.
Through its Georgia Grown Ag-products Industry Promotion and E-commerce Promotion programs, Georgia Grown — a state membership program designed to help agribusinesses thrive by bringing producers, processors, suppliers, distributors, retailers, agritourism and consumers together — will waive all membership fees for the service until July to help producers affected by the crisis.
“The first step is facilitating connections between consumers and growers. There are many people who are looking for fresh produce and cannot find it and we have producers who have produce and cannot sell it,” said Laura Perry Johnson, associate dean for Extension at UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Types of agricultural products that qualify for the program include everything from vegetables, fruits and other produce to seafood, meats, dairy, poultry products and any other agriculture-related products, such as honey and prepared foods.
“We are getting a lot of interest from many types of buyers, including consumer, wholesale, food banks and some restaurants,” said Matthew Kulinski, deputy marketing director for Georgia Grown. “This is a good way for producers who normally sell to restaurants to have a new outlet for their produce.”
Georgia farmers who are keeping regular hours, providing curbside pickup, home delivery or ecommerce sales during the COVID-19 crisis can join the programs by visiting the Georgia Grown Ag-Products Industry Promotion webpage at
https://gdaforms.wufoo.com/forms/georgia-grown-agproducts-industry-promotion/ or the Georgia Grown E-Commerce Promotion page at
https://gdaforms.wufoo.com/forms/georgia-grown-ecommerce-promotion/ and filling out forms that will add their information to a statewide database of producers that will be shared with consumers and buyers.
UGA Cooperative Extension will support the program through its network of dedicated agents and specialists throughout the state who have relationships with local producers and community members who can benefit from the program.
“This is a grassroots effort that starts with all of our Extension agents, specialists and coordinators who have the relationships with these growers, producers and farmers,” said Johnson. “We are working on several different ways to get this information out to producers and consumers, including our Extension website emergency resources page (
extension.uga.edu/topic-areas/timely-topics/emergencies.html) and through traditional and social media. Together we can make this into something that will not only help agriculture in Georgia, but the people who need access to fresh food as well.”
For consumers who are interested in picking their own produce, Georgia Grown also provides a Pick your Own list of all producers who offer that option on their farms at
georgiagrown.com/find-georgia-grown/agritourism/pick-your-own/ .
