Recently, I was staring into my cell phone watching a YouTube video and looked over at my wife as she was looking at her cell phone while using her earphones to block out the sound coming from my phone video, and it hit me — this is crazy — we are 6 feet away from each other and couldn’t be further apart in our communication.

We both kind of laughed, put down our phones and talked — yes, actually talked.

This dovetailed with my recent appointment to the economic development board in my county of residence — as I have now attended a couple of those meetings and thought — wow — we really need to talk and become involved with this effort to improve our communities.

Plus, we need to receive and seek out public comment and involvement — no one is at our meeting for public comment.

As a community, we have so much potential to do great things together, but too often we end up immersed in our cell phones or in our “silo” of influence.

Let this be your call to action!

Start by being more intentionally and physically involved in your business — walk around and meet the new staff and observe how they are doing by catching them doing something right.

Go to a meeting of your local government and show an interest in their vision for the future. Maybe even ask questions.

By receiving your input and feedback into the evolving community changes and needs, we can incorporate your knowledge and expertise — which is different from mine and others and helps to build a better plan.

Change your routine and meet new people to make new friends, and together improve the community and business environment.

We are blessed to have so many resources, but unfortunately many times people and entrepreneurs are unaware of the resources.

Connect with your community’s chamber of commerce, the team at Tip of the Mitt SCORE, the NLEA (Northern Lakes Economic Alliance) , the SBDC (Small Business Development Corp.). Check out a Business After Hours event.

Most of all, move out of the virtual and into the community and talk — be active in your future.

Turn off the phones. Find the first robin of the spring. Find out something new about your family or friends and enjoy being with them — be a part of this exciting community’s future.

Tim Timmer has a banking background and volunteers as a mentor with SCORE's Tip of the Mitt chapter. To request the free, confidential mentoring services which SCORE offers for small businesses, call the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce at (231) 347-4150.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Community engagement for businesses