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New for Sunday, March 22, 2020
  • In Governor Cuomo's press conference today (Sunday) he announced that all elective, non-emergency surgeries must be cancelled effective Wednesday.

  • Reminder: All non-essential businesses are mandated to have 100% of their employees work from home beginning today (Sunday) at 8PM.

  • Guidance on who is considered exempt from the Executive Order can be found HERE. The list is also posted further down in this email. We have asked elected officials for consideration to create an unemployment program for small business owners. 

  • If you are not on the list of exempt businesses, but believe you should be, you can request a waiver from Empire State Development HERE.

  • Clarification has been sent by the state to confirm that the construction exemption listed in the Governor's Executive Order applies to "all construction."

  • Yesterday (Saturday), Governor Cuomo released two new Executive Orders pertaining to COVID-19. The First order can be found HERE and the second order can be found HERE. The summary bullet points are as follows:
  1. Court operations are now limited to essential matters and any time limit that would pass while this order is in effect is suspended.
  2. Driver licenses and vehicle registrations that expired after March 1, 2020 are to be considered valid until the executive order is rescinded.
  3. Evictions or foreclosures on both individuals and corporate entities are suspended for 90 days.
  4. The payment of sales tax from businesses to the state is deferred for 60 days.
  5. Financial institutions are required to provide any consumer an opportunity for a forbearance of payments for a mortgage for any person or entity facing a financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the applications must be granted "in all reasonable and prudent circumstances."
  6. Fees for the use of ATMs, overdraft fees and credit card late fees, may be restricted by the Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services.
If you have any questions regarding the information in this notification or any other business related concerns and suggestions, please email [email protected]. Please do NOT contact elected officials regarding information in this email as they are currently inundated with handling the government response to this crisis. This network was created to help coordinate responses and share the burden, and we ask that you please contact us with any questions or concerns so our elected officials can focus on their task at hand. Thank you for your continued support through this time.
Exempt Businesses List
1. Essential Health Care Operations, Including:
  • research and laboratory services
  • hospitals
  • walk-in-care health facilities
  • emergency veterinary and livestock services
  • elder care
  • medical wholesale and distribution
  • home health care workers or aides for the elderly
  • doctor and emergency dental
  • nursing homes, or residential health care facilities or congregate care facilities
  • medical supplies and equipment manufacturers and providers

2. Essential Infrastructure, Including:
  • utilities including power generation, fuel supply and transmission
  • public water and wastewater
  • telecommunications and data centers
  • airports/airlines
  • transportation infrastructure such as bus, rail, or for-hire vehicles, garages
  • hotels, and places of accommodation

3. Essential Manufacturing, Including:
  • food processing, manufacturing agents, including all foods and beverages
  • chemicals
  • medical equipment/instruments
  • pharmaceuticals
  • sanitary products
  • telecommunications
  • microelectronics/semi-conductor
  • agriculture/farms
  • household paper products

4. Essential Retail, Including:
  • grocery stores including all food and beverage stores
  • pharmacies
  • convenience stores
  • farmer's markets
  • gas stations
  • restaurants/bars (but only for take-out/delivery)
  • hardware and building material stores

5. Essential Services, Including:
  • trash and recycling collection, processing and disposal
  • mail and shipping services
  • laundromats
  • building cleaning and maintenance
  • child care services
  • auto repair
  • warehouse/distribution and fulfillment
  • funeral homes, crematoriums and cemeteries
  • storage for essential businesses
  • animal shelters

6. News Media

7. Financial Institutions, Including:
  • banks
  • insurance
  • payroll
  • accounting
  • services related to financial markets

8. Providers of Basic Necessities to Economically Disadvantaged Populations, Including:
  • homeless shelters and congregate care facilities
  • food banks
  • human services providers whose function includes the direct care of patients in state-licensed or funded voluntary programs; the care, protection, custody and oversight of individuals both in the community and in state-licensed residential facilities; those operating community shelters and other critical human services agencies providing direct care or support

9. Construction, Including:
  • skilled trades such as electricians, plumbers 
  • other related construction firms and professionals for essential infrastructure or for emergency repair and safety purposes

10. Defense
  • defense and national security-related operations supporting the U.S. Government or a contractor to the US government

11. Essential Services Necessary to Maintain the Safety, Sanitation and Essential Operations of Residences or Other Essential Businesses, Including:
  • law enforcement
  • fire prevention and response
  • building code enforcement
  • security
  • emergency management and response
  • building cleaners or janitors
  • general maintenance whether employed by the entity directly or a vendor
  • automotive repair
  • disinfection

12. Vendors that Provide Essential Services or Products, Including Logistics and Technology Support, Child Care and Services:
  • logistics
  • technology support for online services
  • child care programs and services
  • government owned or leased buildings
  • essential government services
Resources With Links
Centers For Disease Control
United States Small Business Administration
Disaster Loan Application: www.disasterloan.sba.gov/ela
New York State Government
New York State Economic Development
New York State Department of Labor
Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce
Dutchess County Workforce Investment Board
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Dutchess Business Notification Network | [email protected]