REMINDER - UPCOMING EVENTS
HOW TO RE-OPEN YOUR BUSINESS WITH SBDC
Friday, May 15 at Noon

Join Connecticut Small Business Development Center’s Matt Pugliese, Associate State Director & Greg Lewis, Business Advisor and the Windham Region Chamber of Commerce for a “How to Re-Open your Business” webinar.

They will help you understand the financial and operational implications of reopening and help you understand the importance of clearly and effectively communicating the preparations you have made to get ready to serve your customers.

This is event is free and open to anyone. Please register in advance at WindhamChamber.com. 

You can submit questions in advance to [email protected].

How to Protect Yourself & Employees
Friday May 15, 2020
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT

Anthony Raggi from State Farm Insurance  will present information on:
business auto-ENOL
general liability
workers compensation
professional liability
key employee life
officers and directors
buy/sell agreements funded through life
George McDonald and Ed O’Brien from East Coast Benefit Solutions  will present information on:
Health Insurance – Alternative Funding and Fully Insured Plans
Telemedicine
Dental insurance
Life insurance
Short and Long term disabilityVoluntary Benefits
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COST ESTIMATOR
Tuesday, May 19
11:30 AM
The Windham Region Chamber of Commerce's Health & Wellness Council and the Town of Windham are hosting a community conversation on the "Cost Estimator" launched by the Office of Health Strategy. The Cost Estimator is a price comparison tool for consumers to compare the cost of medical care at Connecticut hospitals and provider networks. The interactive website allows for search, sort, and filter by location, health measure, provider, network quality rating, and cost. Learn how to use this important tool that can save you money whenever you need to access health care and give the state feedback about its effectiveness.Please register in advance

BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE
Tuesday May 19, 2020
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT
Every Tuesday from 10:00-11:00


The Windham Region Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a weekly BUSINESS ROUND TABLE as an opportunity for small business owners and business professionals, entrepreneurs and home based businesses to share ideas and support each other during the Coronavirus Crisis. This meeting will feature a weekly discussion topic and opportunities for problem solving, resource sharing and networking. Our facilitator will be professional business coach, Steve Porcaro. 


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IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATES
QUICK SURVEY:
Are you having a hard time finding hand sanitizer, masks and gloves?
Please take a second and respond to this email with your answer.
 
DECD HAS OPENED ITS SELF-CERTIFICATION PORTAL
For information about guidelines per industry go here:  GUIDELINES
 
For the self-certification to open your business go here:   SELF-CERTIFICATION
 
NEW ENGLAND DIRECTOR OF SBA, WENDELL DAVIS, AND SBDC STATE DIRECTOR, JOE ERCOLANO ANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT EIDL, BRIDGE LOANS, PPP AND PPP FORGIVENESS.
If you missed the webinar, here is a copy. Lots of questions answered. Thank you so much SBA and SBDC for taking the time to be with us!!!    https://bit.ly/2zD5lsq

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW OTHER BUSINESSES ARE DOING WITH THE CRISIS? HERE ARE THE RESULTS OF A STATE WIDE SURVEY.

CT SCHOOLS TO GET $111 MILLION
The State of Connecticut is receiving $111 million in federal coronavirus relief aid for the state’s school districts that will be used to support continued learning and address educational disruptions due to the global pandemic.
 
TREASURY EXTENDS SAFE HARBOR PERIOD TO MAY 18
There has been a question about what “needing” the PPP loan/grant means. The PPP loan/grant was designed to help businesses who were financially suffering from the COVID pandemic and needed the funds to continue operations. Some very large corporations who received the grant did not feel they met that standard and returned the money. If you are one of area businesses who applied for the PPP and you have gazillions in your bank accounts and didn’t really need the money to continue your operations, you may return the money without questions by May 18.   PPP SPECIFICS
 
CT HUMANITIES AWARDS CARES ACT FUNDS TO NONPROFITS
Connecticut Humanities is honored to provide rapid-response funding to nonprofit humanities and cultural organizations that are facing financial hardship resulting from COVID-19. These grants are funded by the CARES Act via the  National Endowment for the Humanities . Connecticut Humanities will be re-granting a total of $450,000 in CARES Act funding. Grant awards will range from $2,500 to $15,000 and no match is required (maximum amount of funding that can be requested is based upon an organization’s budget size). Grants may be used for general operating expenses only (such as salaries, rent, utilities, supplies, and equipment).  Full eligibility and grant guidelines can be found on our website . 

Reminder: June 5th CT HUMANITIES Quick Grant Deadline
For the upcoming June 5, 2020,  Quick Grant  application deadline, organizations are asked to submit grants for projects that address ways that they can best serve their community’s needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Grant requests for non-COVID-19-response-related projects will not be accepted.
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THANK YOU TO OUR CORPORATE SPONSORS:
1010 Main St. Willimantic Ct 06226
860-423-6389 [email protected]