This special partner communication is dedicated to providing information regarding the fluid situation surrounding the Coronavirus and its continued impact on domestic and international travel. 
March 18, 2020
Good morning Sonoma County,

Apologies for the mid-week communication, but we have several updates we wanted to provide to you today.

Shelter in Place
 
You all know a Shelter in Place order has been enacted. Here is the official order so you have the language:



Restaurant Information Webinar
 
The Northern California Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has created a webinar in response to COVID-19 and its impact on our restaurant community.
 
Louise Dawson is the NorCal Regional SBDC Restaurant Specialist. She is hosting a webinar on Friday, March 20 at 2 p.m. for the restaurant and hospitality community with industry specific information in response to COVID-19.
 
She will have representatives from EDD to help restaurants manage workforce, ABC to talk about licenses that are not active for 30 days and other potential lifting of restrictions during this time, the Health Department to give best practices for those restaurants who are remaining open for to-go and delivery services, and the SBA on disaster loans.
 
Here is the registration link: https://nc.ecenterdirect.com/events/46394

A very limited number of registration spots remain, so don’t wait! For those unable to register, a recording of the webinar will be made available (we’ll provide a link in a future communication and in our partner toolkit ).


Small Business Disaster Loans
 
While there’s no way to immediately lessen the impact of this crisis, some relief is possible for small businesses. Information about the program for California businesses in Sonoma County is available here The fact sheet on the website (available in both English and Spanish) states:

Disaster Loan Assistance Available: Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) – Working capital loans to help small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes meet their ordinary and necessary financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of the disaster. These loans are intended to assist through the disaster recovery period.
 
Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call (800) 877-8339. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.


Updating Your Business Listing
 
With so much changing in response to COVID-19, we encourage all of our partners with business listings on sonomacounty.com to please update your information through our partner extranet.

This information will be displayed on sonomacounty.com and distributed through various channels.

You can log into the partner extranet here: https://sonoma.extranet.simpleviewcrm.com/login/#/login
 
Please go to Profile > Account > Choose your account name > Manage Amenities .
 
If you need login information, you can email Katja West at kwest@sonomacounty.com


Regional Parks Remain Open
 
And because we live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, we are thrilled we can still enjoy our parks! Per the website :
 
All parks, trails and beaches remain open so the community can engage in self-directed outdoor exercise (hiking, walking, biking) while following social distancing and personal hygiene guidelines. Parking fees are waived until further notice.


Take good care of yourselves and each other! 
Claudia Vecchio
President and CEO
Sonoma County Tourism
cvecchio@sonomacounty.com
707-522-5804
Industry Resources

Sonoma County Tourism has a Coronavirus Partner Toolkit regularly updated here .

The Sonoma County Economic Development Board has compiled a comprehensive list of local, state, and government resources (including financing options) for businesses here
Health Organizations

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)  is carefully monitoring the Coronavirus and offers information and  FAQs  via its   COVID-19 microsite.

World Health Organization’s   Coronavirus web page   provides a wealth of insights about the disease, ways to protect oneself, travel advisories, etc.