• Ken Riehl, CEO, [email protected]

• Peter Webber, Sr. VP, [email protected]

• Olivia Perez-O’Dess, Member Services Director, [email protected]

• Retailers Reopening This Week for Curbside Pick-up and Delivery. As phase one of Reopening Massachusetts progresses, Cape Ann’s jewelers, toy stores, clothing stores and more are now able to serve their customers with curbside pick-up and deliveries. Customers should make their purchases online or by phone. The Retailers Association of Massachusetts has compiled detailed guidance for retailers and their customers. For additional sector-by-sector information, please click here.

• Barbers and Salons Reopening. For more detailed information and guidelines for business owners and customers please click here.

• Reopening Massachusetts General Business Guidance. The following information is designed to help businesses meet the self-certification requirement to reopen. All businesses must meet these requirements before reopening.

• COVID-19 control plan template – Template that satisfies the written control plan requirement for self-certification

• Compliance attestation poster – Poster that customer facing businesses are required to print, sign, and post in an area within the business premises that is visible to workers and visitors

• Employer and Worker posters – Posters that businesses can print and display within the business premises to describe the rules for maintaining social distancing, hygiene protocols, and cleaning and disinfecting

• Hygienic or Protective Supplies for the Workplace – Resources to help inform employers and employees about supplies needed to return to workplaces, and connect businesses with manufacturers and distributors.

• Find all this information and more on the new Reopening Massachusetts website, including detailed sector-specific reopening guidance, timelines and links to additional resources.

• Reopening – Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards. The Department of Public Health (DPH) and the COVID-19 Command Center developed new Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards in consultation with the Reopening Advisory Board. These new standards will apply universally to all workplaces that are open in Phase 1, and are designed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission to employees and customers during the first phase of reopening, and are applicable to all sectors and industries.

• State Replaces “Stay-at-Home” Advisory with “Safer-at- Home” Advisory. Read the details of the “Safer-at-Home” advisory issued today by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health here.

• Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Continues. For further information about PPP and EIDL loans and other SBA loan and debt relief programs please click here.

• Guide to PPP Loan Forgiveness. This U.S. Chamber of Commerce has shared this helpful guide for businesses to help navigate the application process for Paycheck Protection Loan forgiveness.

• Reopening Cape Ann. We have updated and refreshed the Chamber’s special COVID-19 information and resource page - including information for and updates about Cape Ann’s businesses and their operations as we progress through the phased reopening of Massachusetts. Please send your business information and updates to Olivia Perez-O’Dess ([email protected]). These lists now include salons, barbershops & beauty services, take out and delivery options, retailers, banks and grocery store hours.

• Job Postings Welcome. We encourage Chamber members to use us as a resource to post job openings as Americold has done. All CACC members have an online account where they can post a job listing. View current job listings here. For assistance in posting job openings for your business, please contact Olivia Perez-O’Dess at [email protected].

• Resources for Cape Ann Businesses. The Chamber team is working diligently to assist our members and the community as we navigate these uncertain times together. We encourage you to review the Chamber’s compendium of Business Resources and Recommended Actions here and we invite you to contact us if you have any questions or need assistance.  

• Please Welcome Our Newest Chamber Members.

• M A Barker Photography

• John Abisamra

• Copp Home Improvement

• Caring for Caring LLC

• William J Funk Procurement Consulting Services

• Jane Deering Gallery

• Eleven Eleven Elixir

• LEAP for Education’s Summer Internship Program is now recruiting employers and community members. Be a “Career Mentor” and virtually advise a teen summer intern in a six-week project-based remote learning experience. Please email JoAnn Leavitt, Program Coordinator, at [email protected] if you would like further information, or call 774-270-0119.

• Cape Ann Emergency Relief Fund Update. To date Action Inc. and their partners have raised over $350,000 for the fund and more significant donations are expected in the coming days. Action Inc. has raised a further $55,000 as an additional supplementary fund from ECCF and Mass COVID fund for vulnerable subpopulations hardest hit by the pandemic. As of May 27, Action has provided payments to 227 families, distributing a total of $113,500. Today Action Inc. will announce plans to provide additional assistance, and in the coming weeks they will reassess additional changes to the eligibility and distribution processes.

• CARRYOUTMA. We invite our readers to check out this new website created by the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. This is a great resource designed to help us support our favorite local eateries offering take-out, curbside pick-up and delivery services.

• Cape Ann Tourism Facebook Group. Members of the Chamber’s Tourism Council have formed a Facebook Group to share ideas, enable discussions, and promote information and resources that can enable a strong, safe and viable tourism industry North of Boston in and around Cape Ann.

• The Open Door’s #MyBowlAtHome Tribute. The Empty Bowl Dinner has been a long-standing community tradition that brings us together each spring. We won't gather for the annual Empty Bowl Dinner this month as we have for the past 20 years, but The Open Door has created a fun way to still come together—while staying apart. They are inviting us to join them in our #MyBowlAtHome Tribute where we can still #ShowUsYourBowls and be #CommunityStrong. From May 21 through May 31, take a picture with your favorite empty bowl (or bowls!) from years past and share them on social media with your friends and family.

• Burke & Crew Paintwrights is offering a promotion to help Chamber members either spruce up the premises, or develop an incentive to motivate prospects to do business. They call it "Free Painter For a Day", which happens to be a $400 value. Sound crazy? Not really. They're so confident that once a member - or homeowner - tries one of their paintwrights for just a day, they'll want to use B&C for all their painting projects forever more. Call 978-999-DONE or click here for details.

• Hammond Castle’s “Petite Wedding Package” offers a most romantic seaside setting for that special day. Say “I DO” in the expanse of the Great Hall or embrace while perfectly framed by the property’s iconic arches with sweeping views of Gloucester Harbor. Hammond Castle Museum’s new Petite Wedding Package offers the opportunity to host an intimate wedding ceremony with exclusive access to the museum and gardens for the ceremony and photography. Maximum number of eight permitted. For more information and availability please call 978-283-2080 or email [email protected].

• Misselwood Events Offers “Vows with a View”. At Misselwood, they understand that the events of the COVID-19 pandemic have affected many lives, including pivoting the wedding dates that couples were very much looking forward to celebrating. Misselwood Events would like to extend an opportunity for couples to exchange their vows overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. If you or someone you know would be interested, please help spread the word. For more information, please call (978) 232 - 2128 or email [email protected].

• Say Thank-You and Congratulations with the Gift of Cape Ann. Cape Ann Gift Certificates are a great way to say congratulations to graduating high school and college seniors, thank-you to their teachers and all health care workers and first responders, and support over 200 local businesses. To learn more please visit here. To purchase Cape Ann Gift Certificates, please email Karen Carone at [email protected].

• Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM). For AIM’s latest COVID-19 blog please click here.

• COVID-19 Command Center Update: Read MEMA’s May 27 Command Center report here.

• Department of Public Health: Safer-at-Home Advisory

• Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For the latest COVID-19 news and information for Massachusetts, including public health advisories, business resources and government services, please visit here.

• Department of Public Health: Stay at Home Advisory. For details click here.

• Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante: Most recent update

• Centers for Disease Control

• Symptoms and Self-Checker

• What You Need to Know

• Congressman Seth Moulton: Updates and Resources

• OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19

• Essex: www.essexma.org

• Gloucester: www.gloucester-ma.gov

• Manchester-by-the-Sea: www.manchester.ma.us

• Rockport: www.rockportma.gov