Tuesday March 31, 2020
Hello Chamber Members and Partners,

Here are the latest updates and resources for businesses and employees during this uncertain time.

Send us any questions or updates you may have, we are here to help provide information, connect the dots and assure those in the North Country that we will get through this together.

Onward and Be Well!
WEBINAR: CARES Act - What You Need to Know About the Payroll Protection and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Programs
Date:  Thursday, April 2nd
Time:  1:00pm
Cost:  FREE
Speaker:  Attorney's  Jacqueline Kelleher and Brendan Owens from  Stafford Owens Law Firm

Recently, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act . At over $2 trillion dollars, this is by far the largest aid package in response to COVID-19, and includes several provisions to help ease the financial and economic burden on small businesses, employees, and families. ⁠
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Please join us for an informative webinar with panelists Jacqueline Kelleher and Brendan Owens of Stafford Owens Law Firm. They will be covering the need-to-know points on Payroll Protection, and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Programs.

Can't make it? No worries, a recording of this webinar will be posted on our website , at a later date.
Single Worker Construction Sites Allowed to Continue Work
Empire State Development , recently issued new Guidelines for the construction industry, ordering all non-essential construction to shut down.

Single worker construction jobs , however, were excluded from the mandatory stop order and may continue. To qualify as a single worker site, only one employer/worker may be on the site at a time.

The full language of the guidance is below and includes other types of construction that may continue.

  • All non-essential construction must shut down except emergency construction, (e.g. a project necessary to protect health and safety of the occupants, or to continue a project if it would be unsafe to allow to remain undone until it is safe to shut the site).

  • Essential construction may continue and includes roads, bridges, transit facilities, utilities, hospitals or health care facilities, affordable housing, and homeless shelters. At every site, if essential or emergency non-essential construction, this includes maintaining social distance, including for purposes of elevators/meals/entry and exit. Sites that cannot maintain distance and safety best practices must close and enforcement will be provided by the state in coordination with the city/local governments. This will include fines of up to $10,000 per violation.

  • For purposes of this section construction work does not include a single worker, who is the sole employee/worker on a job site.


Executive Order 202.6 is hereby modified to clarify that construction which was an essential service not subject to the in-person work restrictions is modified to provide only certain construction is considered exempt from the in-person restrictions as of March 28, 2020. Further, on and after March 27, 2020, Empire State Development Corporation is hereby authorized to determine which construction projects shall be essential and thereby exempt from the in-person workforce prohibition, contained in EO 202.6 and subsequent Executive Orders which further reduced the workforce requirements. All continuing construction projects shall utilize best practices to avoid transmission of COVID-19.
NEW SBA Disaster Loan Portal Now Available
There has been a huge amount of interest in SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program across the nation and as a result, many businesses have experienced difficulty with the online application system. This morning, a new application portal was put in place and we understand it has alleviated many of these issues.

Click here to access the new portal.

In addition to fixing the system, they’ve also streamlined the application to make it simpler to use.

Stay Tuned! The North Country Chamber of Commerce staff is working with SBA to schedule a webinar shortly to continue answering questions and offer new information.

CARES ACT: Stimulus Bill Summarized
The President signed into law the C oronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. At over $2 trillion dollars, this is by far the largest aid package in response to COVID-19, and includes several provisions to help ease the financial and economic burden on small businesses, non-profits, employees, and families. ⁠

Our team has done their best to summarize the bill and break it down to a digestible document.⁠
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Our summary here:  https://bit.ly/33XJhUC
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Unemployment & FMLA Resources:  https://bit.ly/2UuRz3m
The home page of the Chamber's website is now your go to resource for all things Coronavirus related. From information to help your business, health insurance, employee guidelines, restaurant offerings and CDC resources,  northcountrychamber.com  will hopefully make things a bit easier for you during this challenging time.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:

  • Now Hiring: Whether you are hiring or looking for work, we have a page dedicated to helping pair potential employees with employers.


  • Webinars: Did you miss one of our webinars, you can find them all here.

  • How to Help: If you are looking for a way to help the North Country, we have created an ever growing list of needs in our community. And if you are a non-profit, health care organization or a business helping those in need, email us with your needs, contact information and we will be happy to add you to our growing list.
PRIMARY ELECTION: Date Changed
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Saturday that New York State will postpone its April 28 presidential primary until June 23 in an attempt to limit the risk of spreading the virus.

The Governor stated, “I don’t think it’s wise to be bringing a lot of people to one location to vote, a lot of people touching one doorknob, a lot of people touching one pen. So we are going to delay that and link it to an election that was previously scheduled on June 23.”

*Also, please note that TAX DAY has been moved from April 15th to July 15th*
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: IEC HOLDEN -
Message from: Rob Briscoe President & CEO, IEC Holden Companies
"Hello all,
While we collectively face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, I want to assure all of IEC Holden’s stakeholders – employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders and the global community – that we are doing our part to: (a) limit the spread, and; (b) mitigate the economic impact of these unprecedented events.

Specifically:

  1. We continue to put TRUST first in every decision and action we take in honour of our Vision, Mission and Values;
  2. We are implementing all of the recognized best practices for health, safety and business continuity. THANKS to our amazing Fortune 500 customers who are leading the way globally in this response an"d are inspiring us to higher levels of safety and optimism every day;
  3. We will remain OPEN for business as long as governments and the health of our employees allow. We thank all of our employees for their courage and determination in this regard;
  4. We are offering our HELP in any way we can to any that need it. Please let me know how I, personally, or IEC Holden can help you or your business;
  5. We remain confident that through these challenges we will all find new OPPORTUNITIES and collectively come out stronger than ever before.

Let this experience remind us like never before that our lives and futures are interconnected. All of us at IEC Holden send you our best wishes for health and prosperity."
STRAND-ED AT HOME: Virtual Concerts, Classes and more!
The Strand Center for the Arts is going digital!!!

What does this mean? Concerts, classes, kids programming and more will all be done digitally.

Tune into their Facebook page , for live concerts, acts and classes. They are also looking for your feedback - what do you want to see? Let them know!

Stay tuned for more details on all and help spread this news.
Have Questions? We're here to help!

North Country Chamber of Commerce
518.563.1000
info@nothcountrychamber.com