By Mary Jo Coulehan
Pagosa Springs Area
Chamber of Commerce
The COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020 has certainly been a year many of us have not experienced before. Lives have changed in so many ways: school attendance, work attendance, shopping, events, social distancing and basically the way we interact. To mask or not to mask has been one of the most divisive issues I have encountered in my years at the Chamber.
However, in the face of adversity most often comes positive change. We learn to do things differently. We improve productivity; we improve processes; we learn to work smarter rather than harder. This is one of the aspects in this time of change that the Chamber would like to focus on through our Positively Pagosa campaign.
We would like people to Think Positive, Share Positive, Be Positive and Live #PositivelyPagosa. What can this campaign do for you? What we’re looking to communicate are some of the positive projects, acts of kindness, new work systems, new processes, unsung heroes and many more activities that our community experiences every day.
What have you done differently in your business that has really worked and you’d like to share with other businesses so that they too might learn a new, effective way to do business? Is there someone who you know of that has done an act or multiple acts of kindness like shopping for some or running errands; what about all of the people who have devoted their time to making thousands of masks? There are so many people and so many acts of kindness that have made a positive impact on our community. I believe that many people don’t even know all the projects and acts of kindness or changes in the work place or community that have actually made a positive impact.
How do you share these positive notices? First off, visit the Chamber’s website at www.pagosachamber.com. Click on the any of the social media links: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Somewhere in your post, include the campaign hashtag #PositivelyPagosa. Then tell us about your experience, tag someone else’s positive act of kindness or positivity, and share. We would like to learn from other experiences and celebrate those businesses, organizations and individuals who have been making a positive influence in our community. In addition, “like” the #PostivelyPagosa links through the various social media platforms.
Thank you, Pagosa, for sharing good works and business practices during this difficult time. Catch someone doing something good. Let’s move forward and be grateful for so much that we have in our community such as resilient businesses, kind people and dedicated individuals. Share the successes.
Stop the knock
Census takers will soon be knocking on your door and visiting households that have not completed the 2020 census. Want to “Stop the Knock?” Complete the 2020 census today by going to www.2020census.gov.
The Archuleta County Complete Count Committee has received comments from people that they have never received their census 2020 “invitation.” If you did not receive a card at your physical address or post office, don’t worry — you can still easily complete the census. Go to the website and when prompted, just put in your physical address. That will get you into the system to complete the simple 10-question survey.
Some additional tips and suggestions: If you are a second home owner, still complete the census for the home that you own here in Pagosa Springs, especially if it is used as a short-term rental. Unfortunately, Archuleta County will not receive any funding attributed to this address, but it will help with the response numbers and help census workers when the census is complete from cross-referencing addresses and having to assess that this is a second home. When asked in the survey how many people were living at that address at the time you would answer zero. Complete the survey and that’s it. If this home is used as a long-term rental, the renter should complete the survey. Therefore, if you are renting a home or apartment, please complete the survey. Your presence in Pagosa Springs is very important and brings much needed funding to our county.
Year to date, Archuleta County only has a response rate of 39.3 percent compared to the 2010 Census response rate of 43 percent. We can do better, Archuleta County. If you have questions about how to complete the census, contact Mary Jo at the Chamber at 264-2360. If you need to borrow a computer to complete the census or need help navigating to the census website, visit the Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library on 8th Street and one of the helpful staff members there will assist you in logging on.
