Somerset County Government: Somerset County Commissioners To Hold Roundtable Seeking Public Input On ARP COVID Recovery Funds To Support ...

Press release from the Somerset County Government:

10/19/2021 12:07 PM

SOMERVILLE, NJ – Somerset County Commissioner Deputy Director Sara Sooy and Commissioner Melonie Marano will host a livestreamed “Tourism and Hospitality Roundtable” with local leaders Thursday to discuss how to best allocate $64 million in federal funds to support local businesses’ strong and equitable recovery from the COVID pandemic. The Commissioners invite the public to post questions and comments on the topic during the livestream.

“Somerset County’s tourism and hospitality industry was particularly hard-hit during the pandemic, and ensuring it’s strong and broad recovery as we emerge from COVID-19 is vital to every economic sector,” said Commissioner Sooy. “We are committed to using a portion of the federal American Rescue Plan funds to ensure our farms, restaurants, hotels and other related businesses are supported and given the opportunity to thrive.”

Somerset County saw a 51 percent decline in tourism industry sales in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, making it one of the hardest hit counties in New Jersey. The year-over-year decline was seen in hospitality, restaurant, transportation, recreation, and other tourism spending which fell from $1,256,000 to $612,000, and visitation which dropped 27.8 percent from 3 million to 2.2 million individuals coming to Somerset County.

The Tourism and Hospitality Roundtable will be streamed live on Somerset County’s Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/SomersetCountyNJ on Thursday, Oct. 14, at 5:30 p.m. Residents can sign up and receive a reminder just prior to the livestream at  https://www.facebook.com/events/1040349223465939.

“Somerset County is a destination for so many people who come here for our restaurants and catering halls, our parks and farms, or even our business opportunities,” said Commissioner Drake “The COVID-19 pandemic took a serious toll on these businesses and we want to learn from those who know the industry best, those who live and work in it every day, how we can maximize the American Rescue Plan funding to help them thrive as we put COVID behind us.”

Non-profit panelists for the Oct. 14, roundtable include:

• Kaitlyn Bundy, Manager of the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission
• Vinnie Cicerale, Director of Sales for AC Hotel Bridgewater
• Melissa DeFreest, VP for Tourism and Communications at the Somerset County Business Partnership
• Troy Fisher, General Manager at the Bridgewater Commons
• Jonathan Kalafer, Owner of the Somerset Patriots and member of the Somerset County Film Commission
• Geoffrey Soriano, Secretary-Director at the Somerset County Parks Commission

Residents, non-profits and businesses can also provide input through an online survey available at https://www.co.somerset.nj.us/residents/covid-19-status-site/recovery-funding.

Last week Commissioner Director Shanel Y. Robinson and Commissioner Doug Singleterry hosted the Facebook Live “Residents and Non-Profits Roundtable” with nine non-profit executives and local leaders. The conversation was robust, and a lot of excellent ideas were presented. A video of the roundtable is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__4rc8FykQk.

The final Facebook Live Roundtable in this series will be:

• Businesses & Downtowns, Oct. 28, 2021 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

To stay up to date with Somerset County events and information, sign up for free email alerts at www.co.somerset.nj.us/subscribe or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This press release was produced by the Somerset County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.