July 17, 2020

Samantha Mango:
Hi, I’m Samantha Mango and welcome to “Sullivan 180 Presents… Take Five!” This series highlights our community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we want to share with you how the community is responding and coming back during the reopening phases. Our guest today is Vanessa Olivo from Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development. Welcome Vanessa, and thanks for being here.

Vanessa Olivo:
Hi, thank you for having me.

Samantha Mango:
How are you doing?

Vanessa Olivo:
Good. How are you?

Samantha Mango:
I’m doing well. Thanks. Can you introduce yourself, your job title and a brief description of your organization?

Vanessa Olivo:
Sure. So my name is Vanessa Olivo, and I’m the economic development specialist here at the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development. And the partnership is a private, not-for-profit organization that is a one stop resource for business development in Sullivan Count, and our focus areas are corporate attraction and business expansion within the County.

Samantha Mango:
Can you talk about some of the resources that you’re offering businesses in response to COVID-19?

Vanessa Olivo:
Absolutely. So we started a Disaster Relief Workforce Emergency Loan Fund, and it launched in April. This program was designed to assist existing business owners who experienced, business income interruption due to COVID. So if they had to close their business, if they were considered nonessential. So no one was really prepared for this. So this loan fund was designed to assist businesses address financial, immediate financial needs, such as payroll costs, maybe rent, insurance payments…stuff that since they didn’t have income coming in, that they could address and could kind of keep the business going without being in business.

Samantha Mango:
That’s great. And these are still available to community businesses?

Vanessa Olivo:
Yes, we’re still accepting applications and people can contact me or call the partnership and we can discuss it. And we have also on our website, we have a page available that has the guidelines and the application.

Samantha Mango:
Great! Can you talk about some of the positive things that have come out of all of this?

Vanessa Olivo:
So I think what, even though many businesses were faced with a lot of obstacles, businesses adjusted very quickly, you know, whether that be now deciding to be open seven days a week, instead of six or five to just find any sources of income that they can to keep their business open or try creative ways of reaching their customers, whether that be social media or just emails and that stuff, trying to ensure that their customers will be safe if they come to their business, whether that be food or to get items from a local hardware store. I think it’s just surprising how quickly people have adapted and a larger sense of community of people saying “we’re all in this together”, we’re all experiencing the same thing. So we’re just trying to do our best and hope that everyone understands that.

Samantha Mango:
Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Vanessa Olivo:
I think I would like to add, just if anybody is interested in our program or is in need of any technical assistance or has any questions about even the SBA loans that are being offered and the programs that they have, they can contact our office by calling (845) 794-1110.

Samantha Mango:
Great. And can you let us know what your website is?

Vanessa Olivo:
Our website is www.scpartnership.com.

Samantha Mango:
Is there any other way people can reach out or stay in touch with your partnership?

Vanessa Olivo:
Yes. So we are on all forms of social media. We have an Instagram, we have our Facebook page and we are also on LinkedIn, and you can just search for Sullivan County Partnership, and it will pop up.

Samantha Mango:
Well again, thanks for joining us, Vanessa, and thanks to the Partnership for all of your efforts.

Vanessa Olivo:
Thank you for having me.