As you may have heard, DEED and the Department of Administration have agreed to provide a one-time shipment of disposable masks to one chamber in each county. We're currently working with Faribault & Northfield chambers to equally distribute masks for all Lonsdale businesses. Face masks are expected to arrive in Faribault on Monday.

Face Mask Distribution Date: Tuesday, July 28 7:30am-1:30pm & 5:00pm-7:00pm
or by appointment call 507.744.4962.


As of July 25, 2020, per the Governor's Executive Order 20-81, people in Minnesota are required to wear a face covering in all public indoor spaces and businesses, unless alone. Additionally, workers are required to wear a face covering when working outdoors in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained. Research has shown that use of face coverings can greatly reduce the risk of infection when combined with other prevention efforts such as social distancing and hand hygiene.

Under Executive Order 20-81, businesses must:

  • Require that all persons, including their workers, customers, and visitors, wear face coverings as required by Executive Order 20-81 and take reasonable steps to enforce the requirement.
  • Mitigate or eliminate worker and customer exposure to persons who cannot wear or refuse to wear a face covering.
  • Update their COVID-19 Preparedness Plans to include the face covering requirements of Executive Order 20-81, inform their workers how their plan has been updated, and make the revised plan available to their workers.
  • Post one or more signs that are visible to all persons—including workers, customers, and visitors—instructing them to wear face coverings as required by Executive Order 20-81.
  • When possible, provide accommodations to persons, including their workers and customers, who state they have a medical condition, mental health condition, or disability that makes it unreasonable for the person to maintain a face covering. Accommodations could include permitting use of an alternate form of face covering—a face shield, for example—or providing service options that do not require a customer to enter the business.

Executive Order 20-81 does not:

  • Require businesses or their workers to enforce face covering requirements when it is unsafe to do so.
  • Authorize businesses to restrain, assault, or physically remove workers or customers who refuse to comply with Executive Order 20-81 when it would not otherwise be legal to do so.
  • Authorize businesses and their workers to violate other laws, including anti-discrimination laws.
For additional information about the steps businesses can take to ensure compliance with Executive Order 20-81, refer to Executive Order 20-81 which is available at Executive Orders from Governor Walz, and the Frequently Asked Questions About the Requirement to Wear Face Coverings.

Executive Order 20-81 requires face coverings to be worn when specifically required by the applicable industry guidance available at Stay Safe Minnesota. The following industry-specific guidance imposes additional face covering requirements that, as instructed by the Executive Order, must be followed by businesses and workers in those industries:

Restaurants and Bars: The applicable industry guidance requires:
All workers to wear a face covering in any part of the restaurant or bar, whether indoor or outdoor, unless a worker is working alone in an office or other enclosed or separated area where food is not stored, handled, or prepared.
Workers to wear face shields when a face covering cannot be worn, such as when working in hot kitchens.
Workers who have face-to-face interactions with customers must wear both a face covering and face shield when the customer is not wearing a face covering and it is not possible to maintain physical distance of at least 6 feet.
Refer to Industry Guidance for Safely Reopening: Restaurants & Bars (PDF) for additional guidance about the requirements applicable to bars and restaurants.

Retail and Personal Care Services: For both retail and personal care services settings, the applicable guidance requires that, if the service being performed requires the customer to remove their face covering, the worker must wear both a face covering and face shield.

Refer to the following webpages for additional guidance about the requirements applicable to these industries:

Business hasn't stopped, and your Chamber hasn't either. We're all in this together.......Stay healthy!