Dear Local Business Owner,
We believe that our newspapers reflect the soul of Sonoma County’s small towns, especially in times like these. Our mission as journalists is to inform, engage and connect. We want to provide our community with vital information that will help local residents, and at the same time, help our local businesses survive this unprecedented circumstance.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic and the shelter-in-place mandate, we are creating a special print and online directory for local businesses. During these challenging weeks and months, community members can read our newspapers and check our online sites for basic information and regularly updated changes.
Business Owners: Please complete the following questionnaire and submit to us. Please continue to submit your information and updates to us for our online Free Open for Business Directory.
• Your business name, and name of contact person
o Name, address, telephone number, website, email address
o What social media platforms do you use?
• What’s happening with your business?
o What services are you currently offering?
o What precautions are you taking to keep customers and employees safe?
o Are you offering something in addition to your normal services?
o Any special services? Virtual shopping? Delivery? Curbside pick- up?
o If your business is temporarily closed, please share whatever information you wish about your business.
o Hours of Operation – What days and hours are you open? Do you have special hours? Special hours for seniors?
• Please share what’s helping you get through these difficult times, perhaps a thought or a quote that inspires you.
o For example, here at Sonoma West Publishers, Rollie says “It’s more about the people than it is about business.”
Our digital version of this directory will be available on the websites of our four community papers: The Healdsburg Tribune, Cloverdale Reveille, Sonoma West Times & News and the Windsor Times. We will be continuously updating the digital/on-line directory as new information comes in.
Please answer the above questions as briefly as possible (approximately 100 words total) and submit your answers to: op**@so********.com. We understand that during this time there may be many changes occurring with your business. Once the directory is printed and online, whenever changes occur, please send updates to the same address at: op**@so********.com.
We wish you resilience and tenacity, strength and courage throughout these challenging times. It is our privilege to provide this community service to your business at no cost to you. We stand with you — to inform, to engage, to connect. Please let us know if you have ideas and suggestions for how our newspapers and on-line media can support you throughout this experience. This is new terrain for all of us.
Sincerely,
Rollie Atkinson and the team at Sonoma West Publishers
“Tell your unique story. That’s what newspapers are best at doing. Even in a pandemic people want to feel like they belong to something and that when they make simple choices, like picking a dine-out place, that they are making a difference. In other words, that they have “meaning.” Why? Because we all want to matter to more than just ourselves.”
Rollie Atkinson, Publisher
