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HOOVER – The city Hoover has partnered with the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce to launch a new website, EatShopPlayHoover.com, and other resources intended to help local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hoover Chamber Executive Director April Stone said the Chamber had used the “Eat Shop Play Hoover” tagline for a while, and a long-term goal was to launch a “shop local” campaign.

When the pandemic began affecting local businesses, city officials reached out about ways to help.

The result is a site where residents can select local businesses group by category (food, beverage, hospitality, retail, wellness, services, experiences and non-profits) and see the products and services they are offering during the pandemic.

On the flip side, businesses and non-profit organizations can register to be included on the site.

Participants are not required to be members of the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce.

“The small business, your average mom and pop business will be, in some way or another, forever changed because of this situation, so we just wanted to help them navigate the best way we know how,” Stone said.

Residents are encouraged to help by ordering food to go, shopping online, tipping well and buying gift cards.

Stone said she hopes technology can help businesses during an unprecedented time.

“No other time, even 5-10 years ago, could we have been able to stay as connected as a community as we are,” she said.

A strong sense of community should also help, as demonstrated by city officials using their resources to benefit the business community.

Hoover has launched a Business Resources Hotline (205-739-7162) for businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

City employees will operate the line from 8 a.m. to 5 pm Monday through Friday, and will collect information, work to make connections to resource providers and provide information to city officials.

Also, a COVID-19 Resource page can be found at HooverAlabama.gov/1053/Information-for-Businesses. The page outlines resources from local, state and federal agencies, including information from the CDC, IRS, Alabama Department of Insurance and the Alabama Department of Labor.

The Chamber was forced to postpone its Safety Awards Luncheon previously scheduled for March 19.

The Safety Awards luncheon is now tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 15 at the Hoover Country Club.

Other upcoming tentatively scheduled luncheons include the inaugural Small Business Awards Luncheon on May 21 and the annual State of the Schools Luncheon on June 4.

A nomination form can be found on the Chamber’s website, HooverChamber.org, for the Small Business Awards.