Dear Members and Friends of the Enterprise Center Community,

Like many of you, we have experienced the unprecedented adjustment of our business routine at the Enterprise Center. We continue to explore and implement ways to serve you and the thousands of businesses on the North Shore during these challenging times.

Our mission is to serve as resource, advocate and voice for the North Shore small business community and help businesses start and grow in this region. That mission has not changed during this crisis. However, like many of you, our programming and delivery methods have and will change to better serve you.

We know how important information and knowledge is to every business and business owner especially during this unprecedented time. We are committed to monitoring, providing and sharing resource information from:

  • Federal Resources: CARES Act updates including Small Business Administration (SBA) resources and financial programs offered.
  • State Resources: Updates from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on critical state programs that provide resources to businesses and their employees such as unemployment assistance.
  • Local Resources: Local agencies, organizations and associations have valuable information about local resources.

I would like to let you know about another local resource. North Shore Alliance for Economic Development has been a consistent and valued partner with the Enterprise Center. Their weekly radio show on 104.9 FM (Saturdays, 7 AM), North Shore Conversations, features regional leaders discussing issues facing and impacting the North Shore. During this COVID-19 period the show has featured: SBA Regional Director Bob Nelson, the Mayors of Beverly, Lynn, Peabody and Salem discussing their community response to COVID-19, and MassHire’s Executive Director Mary Sarris and Executive Director, MassHire and Mark Whitmore MassHire of the Career Center discussing unemployment assistance resources. You can link to those podcasts here:

North Shore Conversations – COVID-19

The Enterprise Center and the North Shore Alliance for Economic Development recently partnered on a Business Impact Survey to collect data about the impact of COVID-19 on small businesses. Thank you to the more than 200 of you that responded. We are using this valuable data to provide you with the information and programs to help. You can review the survey results at:

COVID-19 Business Impact Survey

Please know that the Enterprise Center and its staff are here to assist you especially during these challenging times. We want to hear from you and learn more about the ways we can assist you. Our staff is working remotely and are always available by email. Please feel free to reach out to me or other members of my team with whom you may have a relationship:

We will continue to stay in touch during this crisis and hope you will as well.

Regards,

Laura Swanson, Executive Director