
Staff photo.
The Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce has been able to adapt and learn from the experience.
The year 2020 has been a tough one for business, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
But the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce has been able to adapt and learn from the experience, said Tonya Jones, the organization’s president and owner of Tonya Jones SalonSpa in English Village.
“What this has taught us is how to pivot and really come up with some creative ways to generate some money for our city,” Jones told the Mountain Brook City Council on Oct. 26.
“We’ve gotten to make new relationships and see our city sort of come together,” she said.
She praised the role played this year by Suzan Doidge, who serves as the Chamber’s executive director.
Doidge has led the Chamber “through this whole pandemic so bravely and just amazingly,” Jones said.
Jones then presented the Council with a semi-annual report on the activities undertaken by the Chamber this year to boost economic activity in Mountain Brook.
HELPING BUSINESSES
In the late spring, the Chamber created a new nonprofit called OneMB to take donations to help support local merchants and restaurant owners affected by COVID-19.
The Chamber continues to take those donations through the Mountain Brook Merchant Relief Fund, and nearly $80,000 has been distributed to local merchants, Jones said.
“We’ve got a lot of merchants that still need your help,” she said.
In the spring, the Council also hosted several meetings on Zoom in which experts from various fields offered business people advice on coping with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jones said.
This fall, the Chamber launched its “Eat Out to Help Out” promotion, which uses social media and a weekly giveaway of gift certificates and t-shirts to help drive attention to local eateries. A new restaurant is featured each week.
Also in September, the Chamber launched a weekly series of videos on social media called “Live Local” hosted by Gerald Garner, who was elected to the Mountain Brook City Council in August.
Garner “speaks to merchants about what it means to live local, shop local, to really be apart of the community and what’s going on inside their stores,” Jones said.
“This has been a hit,” she said.
STRIKING GOLD
The Chamber’s popular “Village Gold” gift certificate program is “alive and well” and made a big change in 2020, Jones said.
Village Gold went strictly digital in September and is sold on the Chamber website.
Jones said the Chamber had sold about $71,000 of Village Gold, which can only be spent at participating Mountain Brook merchants.
“We think this is fantastic,” Jones said.
SHOWCASING NEW BUSINESSES
Jones also updated the Council on other regular Chamber activities, such as special events.
The chamber held ribbon cuttings for such new businesses as Amparo Fine Living, Gunn Dermatology, Carriage House Weddings and Sol y Luna.
The Chamber likes “to showcase these new businesses and create excitement around their openings,” Jones said.
The Chamber’s many special events included the Fall Fling in English Village and Sidewalk Sips and the Fall Edit at Lane Parke.
UPDATES
The annual Chamber luncheon scheduled for January will be rescheduled for a later date, Jones said.
“The Official Guide to Mountain Brook,” published annually by the Chamber, is in production and will be available in early 2021, Jones said.
For more information about the Chamber, call 205-871-3779 or go to mtnbrookchamber.org.