Wednesday, April 8th, 2020 – We are facing truly unprecedented times with the global coronavirus pandemic. This crisis is affecting all of us – our families, our businesses, and our community. More than ever, our members need our support.
As a result, Downtown London established an ad hoc COVID-19 Task Force to work with staff in identifying priorities and how we can best serve our membership at this time. The Task Force is comprised of: Barbara Maly, Andrew McClenaghan, Asaad Naeeli, John Fyfe-Millar, Jordan Detmers, and Bonnie Wludyka.
Together with staff, they surveyed the membership via SurveyMonkey and performed one-on-one telephone outreach. Members were asked to disclose their concerns and needs. A few key themes emerged:
- What subsidy, grants, and benefits are available from all levels of government to support my business?
- How do I best help and retain my employees?
- Safety and crime in the downtown and the need for increased surveillance
- Ensure downtown image and upkeep is maintained and increased
- The need for ongoing and crisis support for marginalized individuals
- Questions about rent – what are my rights as a tenant/landlord?
- The need for continued advertising of my business
- A plan for a campaign/event to draw traffic downtown once this is over
With this valuable feedback, Downtown London created a COVID-19 Action Plan to assist members throughout the duration of this crisis all the way through to post-crisis recovery.
For more information please view the detailed COVID-19 Action Plan.
For all media inquiries, please contact:
Andrew McClenaghan
Chair, LDBA Board of Directors
519-858-9604
amcclenaghan@echidna.ca
Barbara Maly
Executive Director
519-808-1776
barbara@downtownlondon.ca
