Utah Asking for Retail Stores' Help in Distributing Face Masks

The Utah Governor's office of Economic Development is in the process of procuring up to 2 million face masks with the intention of providing these to Utah residents free of charge. It will be a multi point distribution system including online ordering at coronavirus.utah.gov/mask .

In addition to residents ordering face masks online, the state's COVID-19 Task Force is also distributing masks to various touch points to reach multicultural and disadvantaged Utahns. Masks will be provided to local emergency management centers, to nonprofits serving the homeless and delivering meals to the hungry, and to grocery and convenience stores willing to distribute masks to customers.  They are explicitly looking for grocery, pharmacy and convenience stores in underserved areas.

The goal of the initiative is to ensure every Utahn, when they're in public places (especially retail stores), has a mask to wear to protect themselves and others as we work together to keep Utah healthy and safe.

If member retailers are interested in helping to distribute free masks and can manage the mask distribution (this will require employee oversight), please send an email to  [email protected]  with your contact information so the Task Force can have masks shipped to the store. The State of Utah may not be able to provide masks to every store that requests them, depending on many different factors, including location and other distribution mechanisms nearby. So, if a retailer is interested we would suggest you email quickly.

The task force has requested that participating stores manage mask distribution to ensure customers only take one per person and don't collect masks to give away or sell to others.

Please reach out to association president Dave Davis if you have any questions.