Middle’s Business Recovery Task Force Eyes Reopening

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MIDDLE TOWNSHIP – Using three different platforms to broadcast a Zoom virtual meeting, the Middle Township Business Recovery Task Force held its first Q and A session April 29.
The Task Force is a combined effort of the Middle Township Chamber of Commerce, Middle Township Economic Development Council, and Middle Township government.
The focus of the Task Force is information sharing. As Chamber President Bob Noel explained, the Task Force seeks to warehouse in one place information useful to small business owners seeking loans and other forms of assistance during the near lockdown conditions in force to combat COVID-19.
At this meeting, Joe Molineaux, a small business consultant hired by the county, was present to respond to questions from business owners, most of which dealt with the confusion surrounding the various small business loan programs and the parameters for eventual forgiveness of the loans. Molineaux’s contact information is available on the Chamber’s website.  He will continue to serve as a resource for small business owners.
During the meeting, Mayor Timothy Donohue said that the township was working with the Cape May County Task Force on a plan built around the three-phase federal Opening America Again plan.
Donohue said the goal of the planning effort was to get to “a point of compliance where the governor will say, yes.” He emphasized the need for careful, reasoned steps since a “botched attempt” means the township would have to restart its plan, with another initial 14 day period of lockdown.
Donohue said he hoped the county could gain the Governor’s approval for a regionalized approach to reopening. “The four most southern counties have less than 2% of the total Covid-19 cases in the state,” Donohue argued. “There should be a more balanced approach to restarting the economy in South Jersey,” he added.