Advocacy Through COVID with Mike Paone

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability and to correct obvious transcription errors while preserving the meaning of the original conversation.

Episode 93 — Advocacy Through COVID with Mike Paone
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Mike Paone
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.83 Brandon Burton
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:14.486 Brandon Burton
And now your host, he loves the cool breeze. He's Brandon Burton. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm your host, Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. You're joining us today for episode ninety-three of Chamber Chat Podcast. And as we record this interview, this is the beginning of October of twenty twenty.
00:44.45 Brandon Burton
And I was hoping by this point of the year that we could be talking all about the recovery efforts from COVID 19. And although we're starting to go that way, we are still very much in the the middle of this as well. So our our guest today is Mike Paone, and he's the the vice president of government affairs at the Joliet Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Illinois. And in our discussion today, we will we'll be talking about advocacy through COVID and kind of how his chamber there, how they've been tackling this I know we hear it all the time, but this unprecedented time. And I hope that you can get a lot of tips and and some ideas hearing how other chambers have dealt with this this important time and kind of a a stress on on chamber organizations as well. But a little bit of of information, background information on Mike. He is a 19 year chamber professional. He's accomplished membership recruitment and re and retention history. He's been involved in the creation of three chamber subgroups, two of which were a young professionals group and an African American Business Association. He currently is focusing on advancing the interest of business in the Joliet region. He's a proud Kiwanis Club and Rotary Club member. And he's currently involved with several boards, including the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, United Way of Will County, Cornerstone Services, Workforce Investment Board of Will County. And he's a past IOM graduate, class advisor, and board of regents member, Midwest. So we're excited to have Mike with us today, and we will get into This discussion of advocacy through COVID as soon as we hear from our sponsor. As a podcast listener and as a chamber leader, have you considered the benefits that podcasting could have for your chamber? This is what I like to call the podcast pivot. If you're like many chambers, you're always looking for ways to provide non-involvement value to your member investors. Many chambers are finding that podcasting is a great solution.
03:09.514 Brandon Burton
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04:53.75 Mike Paone
Hello, Brandon. And first of all, thank you for the invite to be a part of the podcast here today. And hello to everybody out there in Chamber World. thrilled for this opportunity. happy to talk about our recent efforts at our chamber dealing with advocacy through COVID. but yeah, a little quick notes about myself. Bran had gone over some information. I have like you said, been here at the chamber for 19 years. just starting and beginning my twentieth year here on September. my actual first day working at the Chamber as a recent college graduate. So I always tell people this is the only real job I've had out of college. I graduated in in May and started on September tenth, two thousand one. So the day right before nine eleven. my first first role of the chamber was membership. so I thought to myself, how am I going to sell chamber memberships in these times? So have certainly been through some numerous ups and downs but have moved around in different capacities and have enjoyed every single one of and that's why I'm still at the chamber today.
06:14.954 Brandon Burton
Yeah. You've got some grit to make it through the September eleventh tragedy and and upheaval of kind of the uncertainty going on in the world at that time as a new chamber professional. And so now you're you've got the grit, you're well seasoned, you're ready to take on this advocacy for through the COVID pandemic. So you've you've been prepared for this moment. yeah.
06:40.44 Mike Paone
Yeah.
06:44.416 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So tell us a little bit about your chamber there, just so we can all have a little more perspective as to kind of your thoughts and how you guys are doing things there as far as size and staff, budget, things like that.
06:58.646 Mike Paone
Sure. So we've always for years have traditionally been and still sit right there now. I think everybody's probably experienced a little bit of loss, but we're basically a a thousand member chamber of commerce. so we're here in Joliet, Illinois. Joliet is about thirty-five miles southwest of Chicago. so we're in the Chicago region. but Joliet's actually A city of about a hundred and fifty thousand people, so we're the third largest city in Illinois. so we have a regional chamber and that means that we have about sixty percent of our membership coming from Joliet and another forty percent then from the surrounding communities. And I'd say of that forty percent, majority of it comes from our our two closest bordering communities. but we do have a a s pretty good stretch. fifteen, twenty miles out. we have right now a staff of of four, so we've had to go through a couple of furloughs through this times. you know, certainly affected just like everybody else has. but normally we we operate with about seven to eight staff members. again in normal times, you know, we operate under a a million plus budget, usually about a million two, a million three. And it's a pretty good mix of of you know, dues versus non dues revenue.
08:31.634 Brandon Burton
Okay. So yeah, so you guys are in the same boat as a lot of chambers throughout the country and trying to kind of make some adjustments on the fly with with both less resources, less staff and also being able to you could say take on a a much larger workload and making sure that the the needs of your members are being met. And that you guys are are being that organization that your your members need. So let's get into our topic of of how the Joliet Chamber is advocating for your members through COVID. what are some of the things that you guys have been doing? I'm sure a lot of it's gonna be similar to what other chambers are doing, but I'm hoping that as you kind of go through some of the those things that you've been focused on that other chambers might hear. you know, that nugget or two that they can kind of grasp onto and add some more value to their membership and and be able to help them out through these trying times.
09:40.492 Mike Paone
Sure. Yeah, so kind of just going back to the start, when all this happened in March, you know, we started sending out some emails just to explain, you know, the different situation. There were different reports that were coming out. in the beginning it was more or less sharing you know, from the C D C or World Health Organization about, you know, hand washing and social distancing. and it's kind of just evolved into so much more. we have kept up a daily email basically since that that third week of March where we send out various pieces of info on on federal level, state level, local level, whether it's about you know testing or positivity rates or grants and loan programs, anything and everything that can be a resource to our member. we feel it's our job to make sure that they at least have it at their fingertips and, you know, have information that they are able to take a look at and choose if they want to utilize it or not. but ultimately it's you know it's our goal to make sure as many businesses stay in business and retain as many jobs as possible and and make it through these times. So you know, so with those emails, we've archived them. We started a COVID resource page, as I'm sure a lot have. And we've just kept information rolling on there. In addition to the emails, we've been doing a pretty much a weekly and you know, sometimes we did it more than one time a week. there's been some periods where we've taken a week off here recently, but for the most part a weekly virtual conference. And with those we've interviewed politicians, whether it's congressmen, women, state rep senators, local mayor, county executives, we've had health care reports on, we've had representatives from the US Chamber of Commerce on a couple of times, representatives from the SBA. and then you know, we also turned it over to our members.
12:04.13 Mike Paone
to get involved. So we've brought our members on to talk about you know, different aspects of of healthcare and different aspects of our of our Illinois State restore phases, you know, maybe office tips, so about furniture or plexiglass barriers, things like that. we've done a town hall where we've had a you know cross representation of healthcare and banking and a couple of different other education was one of them. So just trying to keep keep it mixed up as much as possible. we've had lawyers on to talk about legal advice when it gets into you know staffing, unemployment. I think one of the more interesting ones was we had one of our members that gave a really interesting presentation on mental health for employees. So just trying to get as much information out there for all of our members, not to just focus on a specific set or category.
13:10.368 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So did you ever think when you started in the chamber world in September of two thousand one that you would be to the point where you're sending emails about how to wash hands? I mean when you when you started that on the emails, like, my gosh, this is this is crazy, but it's important stuff. And as you're talking about the the emails almost daily, is it possible to have some kind of a content calendar as to scheduling those emails or you almost need to get that information out as soon as you receive it, right?
13:49.718 Mike Paone
Yeah, in the beginning it was definitely, you know, a as it came out as needed, we were firing out emails at various times. I think it kinda got to the point where we would send an email out and then all of sudden something else would break. you know, so then that fear set in, you know, is it okay to send three emails? Are people gonna get, you know, any day from too many emails? Are we hitting them too much? You know, so we kind of progressed to the point where it became known that they're we're gonna get usually an email at about five o'clock, six o'clock at the latest, almost as a wrap up. And, you know, if there were things that that had to get out right away, you know, that would just be a short, quick email. so it you know, it was ki kinda funny. I I had people calling and and, you know, Saying thanks for sending this information, we really appreciate it. It helps us out a lot. We can kind of wade through our everything and, you know, kind of get the the quick direct bullet points. And, you know, they would tell me that it almost became part of their nightly routine, that they would eat dinner, sit down, have a glass of wine or whatever maybe, and read my emails. Yeah. So it was, you know, kind of weird to hear that at first that you've become part of somebody's nightly routine.
15:05.96 Brandon Burton
especially when they're people that normally wouldn't have opened your emails, right?
15:10.67 Mike Paone
Yeah, right. Yeah, it's you know, the email email open rates jumped tremendously from the regular emails to this information, which i is you know, is reassuring that people are, you know, taking the information and and it is helping. We've had numerous, you know, can dozens and hundreds of people that you know, to still to this day, six months later, that reply back to the email or phone calls or such you know, this is just Great information. We really appreciate that you're doing this.
15:42.124 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So that was I mean, early on when things were coming out pretty heavy on a hourly basis almost. I mean, that seems like a pretty good strategy to kind of kind of gather information throughout the day and then send out a kind of a summary at the end of the day that where you can become part of their you know, person's evening routine and and they can go to you as a kind of a trusted resource for the information coming through. How do things look like now as you kind of plan the the email schedule and keeping people updated about COVID. Are you able to have more of a plan and strategy going for it? Or what what is your your thoughts on that?
16:23.746 Mike Paone
Yeah, it's it's definitely I'd say s has slowed down a little bit. and yeah, it can definitely plan it out much better. So we try to keep it to no more than three or four topics. and now over the last couple of weeks have tried to add in some more uplifting, you know, maybe even humorous or just interesting facts or stories pulling from here and there. just to get a mix that it's not always one hundred percent you know, sometimes jokingly some of people that maybe have a little better relationships with us say, geez, you're you're kinda like the doom and gloom guy, you know, given all this negative information. Although, you know, it is factual and, you know, it it needs to be heard, but it's kind of doom and gloom sometimes. so yeah, as as things have progressed, you know, trying to add in some other stuff and some h highlight just, you know, some some other workplace tips or the other day we sent out information on, you know, the six best business books of twenty twenty. So trying to trying to get a little bit more of a mix in there.
17:30.582 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Well, and it's good to be able to kind of sprinkle that value in there when the open rates are still higher and you can kind of give them another look at here's what the chamber's doing for you beyond COVID. You know, we we're here for you in in more ways than this. So that's that's a good idea. So what are what are some of the more recent kind of advocacy efforts? maybe how things have evolved from early on to to what's more active right now as far as advocacy goes.
18:03.87 Mike Paone
Sure. I'd say in the beginning we started out pretty heavy on the federal level of getting out information on the SBA's EIDL grant and loan, definitely the the PPP, and now even a little bit of the program that's still out there now, the Main Street lending. and then we kind of turn to s it to the state here as our Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity initiated and and and started sharing a business interruption grant. so we made sure that all of our members were getting their applications in for that. And that's now even c became more local where our county received some money from the the CARES Act. so we've been working with them to get word out and again, make sure our members get their applications in for up to a fifteen thousand dollar grant. So we still have programs that keep popping up here on a local level that we're we're just making sure that everybody is well informed, knowing what's out there, what the criteria is and the deadlines, you know, to make sure that they they get what they are eligible to receive.
19:28.48 Brandon Burton
Yeah. are you seeing the engagement of people following through, for example, on these grants and everything that they're that they're qualified for? Are are they following through or do you have a way of seeing that? Is it mean to one one degree you can only provide the information. You can't hold their hand all the way through, but I'd I'd like to hear some success stories.
19:54.05 Mike Paone
That's true. yeah, y you know, again, first and foremost is getting that information out and making sure that nobody calls you up and says, Hey, I just saw this program ended. I didn't know anything about it. you know, we don't want that to happen. So we've, you know, almost to a point where we've really just flooded that daily email with reminders of, hey, this is open for, you know, seven more days, six more days, five more days, so that People have it in front of them all the time. We don't want anybody coming back and saying, I missed out on that twenty thousand dollars because you know I didn't know about it. So but yeah, you know, we we have heard a lot, especially in the beginning, again going back to the the EIDL and the PPP programs that you know a lot of our members were taking advantage of that. so many stories of of, you know, especially restaurants and bars that were just hit hard. you know, those feel-good stories where they were able to retain employees or you know, they're able to keep the doors open because it helped them with rent or mortgage. So the the phone conversations are definitely you know, the the best way to follow up and and hear feedback from our members. So we've made you know pretty good effort of st trying to stay in contact with as many members as possible. And also just, you know, letting them know that our email and and phones are certainly always always, you know, open for them and you know, that we help them. And if we don't have the answer, you know, we make the commitment to get them in touch with the right person.
21:40.63 Brandon Burton
So as things are starting to open up a little bit, I'm a little hesitant in saying that because we never know what tomorrow looks like. are there certain industries that you find the need to advocate for a little more as things start opening back up? You'd mentioned restaurants and bars, that that kind of comes to mind. any any efforts being made in in certain business categories?
22:09.538 Mike Paone
Yeah, I would say so. You know, it's kind of one of those fine lines. We always try to advocate as much as possible, you know, on a broad range to cover everybody. but there are certainly times where you do have to, you know, hone in your focus a little bit more. So just recently, couple of weeks back, our our area, so Illinois is broken up into into regions. some regions with, you know, our region is only two counties. You've got other regions that are nine, ten, eleven counties. And you know, so in in Illinois here they have a couple of different metrics that look at positive rates and cases. our our region fell into a situation where we were over the magic number and the governor decided to shut down indoor dining and in indoor patrons for bars. so We kind of took a look at that. There was another region down by St. Louis area that had gone through this a week before us and they didn't have as harsh mitigation efforts. they were rolled back to twenty-five percent capacity where our bars and restaurants had to close completely to indoor dining. so we banded together with eleven other chambers, so a total of twelve chambers from our area. got together and sent a letter to the governor and Illinois Department of Public Health asking for the same treatment that was given to the other region. You know, we felt that it was unfair that these industries were were getting, you know, kind of picked on more than others, but that they had to completely close down rather than just rolling back the capacity. So in the in the next couple of days and a week after that began, it's is a two-week period that you're under the effort mitigation efforts, and then you have to get down to a six point five percent positivity rate. You know, so initially once you go over the eight percent for a couple of days and you get into the situation. So through some digging we had found out that the state was actually
24:30.984 Mike Paone
using two sets of data. they were using a a positivity case. So case meaning one person is one set of data. but then they're also counting total positive tests for another set of data. And the total positive test cases is what they're using to make these determinations to shut to shut regions down. so we argued that we felt that that was not the right way to go. That positive cases was was definitely what we should be looking at rather than positive tests because an individual and and kind of going back to our virtual conferences when we had a lawyer on and he gave the opinion and advice to business owners not to not to have employees come back into work and you know if they had did test positive the recommendation was not to allow them back to work until they tested negative. so in theory, and and I've heard many stories, one of them being a nurse who had worked in a in a hospital had tested positive twelve times before she got a negative and was allowed to come back to work. so to make a long story short, you know, I I think through our efforts we opened a lot of eyes. it was a good story of collaboration. you know, so we worked through this our state chamber association and then also, you know, really worked hard. with the ele eleven other chambers in our region to just kind of speak up and stand up for businesses and you know advocate for them because they had already gone through hard times and this is just kind of reverting right back to hard times. And you know, so they're they're picking up steam now. We've we've come underneath that magic six point five percent number and things are back open to what they were before. but, you know, let's say That industry, you've got the hotel industry, the entertainment industry. So looking at, you know, different options of, you know, theodores and you know, other entertainment venues, you know, I people forget about, you know, we went through the summer with no carnivals, so you know, just amusement parks, things like that. there's so many different operators out there that have just been cut short by the situations.
26:56.546 Brandon Burton
Yeah, absolutely. And I think, I mean, it's it's been said and beat over our heads so many times about this being an unprecedented time. and it really is. I mean, for these governors and health departments that are needing to make decisions based on data that they haven't really ever seen before. I mean, I don't envy their position that they need to be in and looking after the health and safety of people in their state or counties or, you know, however it's divided up. But some of the things like you're talking about the positive it positivity rating and I mean I would hope that they'd be open for discussion and feedback as organizations like Chambers present information and say, you know, let's look at this from another way, a different perspective, because this doesn't seem to make as much sense as it might have initially. I know some states will when you talk about restaurants and bars, the you know, restaurants can be open even if they serve alcohol. But a bar can't. And I've seen in some instances where a bar will start serving a bag of chips with their drink so they can be classified as a restaurant. And it's just the loopholes and it's like it it's frustrating to need to to do that. It seems like being able to have more of a an open discussion and say where are the benchmarks that that these industries need to be at in order to reopen and to be able to, you know, try to make a living at at what they do. So I applaud you guys and and the other chambers in your region for for getting together and and writing those letters to the governor and the health department to to advocate on behalf of those industries. is there anything else that that kind of comes top to mind that that you guys are are doing as far as advocacy goes?
28:49.752 Mike Paone
Well, you know, I'd say just the other thing is, you know, this with so much focus on COVID, coronavirus, pandemic, you know, w we haven't lost sight of other issues going on in the state in in a federal level as well. So we've we've still have, you know, been working hard on things that were out there in January and February. that have not had you know resolved yet. So I'd say more specifically here in Illinois, there's an item coming up on the ballot here in November for progressive income tax. You know, so we've sprinkled in some virtual conferences on that and, you know, are still talking with our members about the ramifications of that going forward. So I just maybe just leave it at that, you know, with so much new things going on, don't you know, certainly don't forget about the issues and barriers that were existing before all this started to happen.
29:55.852 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that's that's a great great thought to to maybe conclude that discussion on is not to be completely caught up in COVID, but let's keep our eye on the ball on on some of these other things that also, you know, have tremendous impact in our communities. Mike, I wanted to ask just kind of based on our discussion, what might be one action item? that a a chamber professional who's listening can do today to help take their organi organization up to the next level.
30:33.816 Mike Paone
Well, you know, I would say that each chamber kind of has to look at their unique position. you could, you know, sit here and say you have to do this, you should do that. But every community, every chamber is is different. as we talked before, I've been around a long time. I don't know who coined the phrase, but I've certainly heard it a number of times. and it it's it's it's if you see one chamber, you see one chamber that n none of us are all a hundred percent alike. so I would say, you know, number one, don't be afraid to be vocal, but be vocal in a way that you and your board and your membership are okay with. So if that's sending out information and letting your members decide what to do with it, if that's the route, then so be it. If you're more comfortable with sending out information and sending an opinion with it or some directives with it, then definitely do that. But, you know, don't be shy. If you're comfortable with being a little bit more aggressive, then certainly do so. because, you know, I think that's that's ultimately what our members are looking for.
31:46.03 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So I like to ask this question to everyone that I have on the podcast as we're all looking to the future and and trying to see kind of the purpose of chambers in the future. From your vantage point, how do you see chambers of commerce and their purpose going forward?
32:05.154 Mike Paone
I would say, you know, going forward, chambers really need to again coming coming back to that I just mentioned about you know being community specific, but you know, really looking at the void maybe that needs to be filled or what issues that need to be solved. and instead of trying to, you know, do everything and offer everything, I think chambers are really gonna have to, if they haven't already. kind of hone in on and those specific issues and voids that the community needs to fill and solve. if you're not already you know build up programs or information so that you can be seen as as the go to organization or the expert on something, whatever it may be, position yourself to be the expert on something.
32:56.736 Brandon Burton
I love that. Position yourself to be the expert on something. so I wanted to give you an opportunity for anyone that's listening that might have questions about how you guys are doing things, whether it's your email strategy or archiving those on your website or whatever it may be based on our discussion today, what might be a good way for them to reach out and connect with you and and maybe continue this discussion offline?
33:23.15 Mike Paone
Sure. I'd be more than happy to help out any that are interested. I'll give you my phone number. It's area code 815-727-5373. That's 815-727-5373. That's my direct office line. And I'd be more than happy to get back in touch if I don't answer right away. And I'm happy to share my email as well. So that's my first initial as in Michael, and then last name, which is P is in Peter, A as in Apple, O, N as in Nancy, E is in Edward at Jolietchamber.com and Joliet is spelled J O L I E T C H A B E R dot com.
34:15.256 Brandon Burton
Perfect. And I will I'm I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.
34:19.34 Mike Paone
no, I I was just gonna tell people too as well that LinkedIn. I think LinkedIn is a good way to to communicate as well. So I have a LinkedIn profile and try to stay as active as possible with messaging on there.
34:33.708 Brandon Burton
That is perfect. I will get all that contact information in our show notes page for this episode, which will be found at Chamberchatpodcast.com slash episode 93. But Mike, I want to thank you again for spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast and kind of sharing your experience there at the Joliet Chamber and how you guys are advocating for your members not only about COVID, but through COVID as well, keeping your eye on the ball. I really appreciate it.
35:03.758 Mike Paone
Well thanks, Bran. I again appreciate the opportunity and look forward to helping any and all that reach out.
35:12.374 Brandon Burton
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