By ​Mary-Claire Burick, President, Rosslyn Business Improvement District
How do you reopen a neighborhood in a safe and engaging way during a global pandemic? At the Rosslyn Business Improvement District (BID), we couldn't have imagined this challenge a few months ago. However, as a community organization with a mission to enhance, grow, and connect the neighborhood, we knew we had to step up and figure it out!

By Rally Kamenova and Andy Powell, Sikich LLP

During times of uncertainty, understanding your organization’s cashflow becomes a valuable tool so you can better navigate your options, manage cash, and direct management decisions. One way to understand your cashflow is to prepare a cashflow projection. It is intended to provide a prediction for the organization’s cash inflows and outflows, which will help identify shortages in funding an organization. This type of information is always better to address in advance. When preparing a cashflow projection, here are few things to consider: 

1. The granularity of the data elements (how detailed the cash inflows and outflows need to be to accomplish any set goals; for example, outflows mapped to vendors or in totality by expense category) 
2. The period and frequency of data (daily, weekly, monthly?) 
3. The assumptions and number of scenarios (how to add uncertainty to the projection?) 

By Jelena Kecmanovic, Ph.D., Arlington/DC Behavior Therapy Institute (ABTI)

We all face unprecedented uncertainty right now, with limited control over many factors influencing our business and personal lives.  Psychologically, worry and anxiety flourish during uncertain times. In an attempt to resolve the tension of not knowing, our minds get stuck in a loop of repetitive thinking, often going down the rabbit hole of worsening “what if” scenarios. This process of filling up the gaps of uncertainty with potential negative outcomes, often called “catastrophizing,” leaves us feeling anxious, unmotivated, and pessimistic.

By Mike Rosenow, Senior Membership Director, Arlington Chamber of Commerce

​One of the most overlooked, yet important aspects of membership here in the Arlington Chamber of Commerce is your business being listed on our members-only Business Directory page. Since that is a staple feature of joining the Chamber, a member might think that all they need is their basic contact information to be listed and they are done. While this is true, and the listing can contain just your address and phone number, I want to let you know about how to get the most out of your listing. 

By Eshauna Smith, Urban Alliance

Yesterday, George Floyd was laid to rest, more than two weeks after his death rocked the world. Yet the pain is still fresh. 

As a black woman and the mother of two black children, as the CEO of an organization that works to increase economic and workforce opportunity for black and brown youth – I am heartbroken for the next generation. I am angry that they are forced to grow up in a world in which the color of their skin can be a death sentence.

COVID-19’s disproportionate and devastating impact on communities of color has laid bare pre-existing racial and socio-economic disparities across the country. Today, our black and brown students are fighting on two fronts: they are fighting against the systemic racism they experience every day, while fighting for their own and their families’ health and stability in the midst of a pandemic. 

By R. Doug Taylor, Bean, Kinney, and Korman

​Virginia’s governor recently signed into law nearly two dozen bills that provide significant new rights for Virginia employees, to combat wage theft, prohibit non-compete covenants for low-wage workers, and expand the scope of the ban on workplace discrimination. Also signed into law were enhanced employee whistleblower protections against retaliation for reporting suspected violations of state law or cooperating with law enforcement.

By Joseph Appelbaum, Potomac Companies, Inc.

Many employees do not understand the benefits that their employers work hard to offer them. According to a 2018 report, 50 percent of employees surveyed said they understand their benefits, compared to 77 percent understanding in 2015. In the 2018 State of Employee Benefits survey, 37 percent of respondents indicated their employer provided no education on benefits. Granted, benefits and health insurance has become more complex in three years, with regulatory changes, increased high deductible health plan (HDHP) implementation, and the changing individual mandate. This increased complexity, however, can be mitigated through rigorous employee education and judicious use of human capital management technology. When employees do not understand benefits (and perks, such as career development and recognition programs), they tend not to “appreciate their value” and are more likely to seek employment elsewhere. 

By Jennifer Owens, Arlington Community Foundation
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​It is no secret that business leaders are wired to look for opportunity in every challenge. But ‘challenge’ does not begin to capture the magnitude of what our community, and communities around the globe, are enduring today. All business leaders - corporate and nonprofit - are having their skills and mettle tested. Still, as this crisis unfolds, we are seeing many examples of the creative and nimble ways that our corporate community is working hand in hand with our nonprofits to clear obstacles and support the people most in need in Arlington. Here are just three of the many examples of the power of solutions-oriented partnership and collaboration that are improving lives in Arlington today:

By Hannah Dannenfelser, ​Arlington Community Federal Credit Union & Todd Ihrig, ​Avantax Investment Services

​Crisis situations often shine a spotlight on the best aspects of our society.  Simultaneously, these situations also highlight where we have room to improve and opportunities to fill gaps.  As with many previous crises, our first responders and health care professionals continue to step up and put others before themselves.  We have seen tremendous acts of kindness and generosity and we are all sacrificing in both small and big ways in service to the community health.
 
We know that this situation has put an entire segment of our community at risk.  In a 2018 survey, the Federal Reserve found that nearly 40% of American adults could not come up with $400 in an emergency.  It isn’t hard to imagine that many of these same adults are being directly affected by a Covid-19 pandemic that, for them, is quickly turning from a broad global crisis into a very personal financial crisis.

By Maggie Richardson, Phoenix Bikes

At Phoenix Bikes, a dynamic nonprofit bike shop in south Arlington, 2020 has been about growing organizational impact. Our mission is to educate youth, promote bicycling and build community, which we accomplish through free youth bike mechanics programs, volunteer opportunities, and events. As the year began, we were juggling new ambitions as well as changing staff dynamics. Our Education Program Manager, Raymond Duran, had just taken on a management role after Natalie Slater, Youth Programs Assistant, came on board. 
 
With more capacity to tackle bigger projects, the youth programs staff and Executive Director Emily Gage were eager to take our youth programs to the next level. The central question was “What comes after Earn-a-Bike?”