Thursday, January 20, 2022, Ed Dowd, Executive Director of the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce was a guest on 101.3 WMCI. Here is a brief description of what he covered during the interview:
- Shopping Local: Talking with Kyle Gill, the Mattoon City Administrator, the total sales tax numbers for 2021 are not available at this time. However, he is confident that the numbers will show that local sales tax revenue overall will be higher for this year versus last year based on most months showing increases. This is good news for our local small businesses who are working to recover from the ongoing pandemic. We need everyone to keep supporting local businesses as we navigate our way out of the pandemic hopefully sooner rather than later.
- Employment: While it is great to hear that small business sales are better than last year, these businesses are still struggling to find help. Virtually every business is looking for help. If you need a job there has been no better time to obtain gainful employment than now. As an example, The need for teachers, teachers aids and substitute teachers is critical. The Regional Office of Education from our area reported that in Illinois there are 2,040 teachers positions unfilled. 96 percent of schools are reporting a substitute teacher shortage. Over 400 schools have reported canceled classes not for the virus but from lack of teachers.
- It is simple: Shop and support local businesses. Remember to be patient as they struggle to find adequate help to serve you. Reward them for quality service. By all means if you are unemployed you will have no problem finding work.
Keep up to date at the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce website.
Listen to the complete interview here:
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