PEP April 2024 Newsletter
April 23, 2024
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The PEP April newsletter is out! We hope you have
COVID-19 Updates and Resources
We are all facing new and unexpected challenges in light of Covid-19. Please review the list of resources below that might be helpful to you, our members, during these times. We are collecting information from our members and partners including the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and the Mobile Section of the Associated General Contractors of Alabama as well as other news sources.
If you have something that would be of use to our member companies, please email Jennifer Denson at jdenson@pepmobile.org.
LOCAL BUSINESS RESOURCES
- Hand Arendall Harrison Sale Resources regarding Employment Alert – FFCRA Requirement Expires December 31
- Guidance Issued by the Alabama Department of Public Health on July 23, 2020:
- PEP Member Hand Arendall Harrison Sale and Russell Thompson Butler & Houston share PPP Loan Forgiveness Changes 2020
- The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce Published a COVID-19 Business Impact Survey – click here to view the results.
- Safety Plus offers automated COVID-19 Screening for employees and site visitors. Click here for full details.
- OEC is a distributor of all of the products needed in the fight against COVID19. Our manager of our Jan/San and PPE products division is Glen Brown, so any inquiries about the day to day availability of these products should be directed to him. His email address is gbrown@oecbi.com and his direct phone number is 251.380.7477. Anyone looking for hand sanitizer, germicidal disenfectants, face masks, gloves, etc. should contact Glen and take advantage of his extensive knowledge about these products to be sure that what they are ordering will perform up to their expectations.
- Russell Thompson Butler & Houston LLP share a helpful guide – Taxes and the Payroll Protection Program
- COVID 19 Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce Response In an effort to help the Mobile community restart operations, the Mobile Area Chamber is reaching out to make sure employers have access to personal protective equipment for their employees. Please let us the Chamber know if you have this equipment or are making this equipment available by completing this form.
- Research Solutions Group is making FDA approved formula hand sanitizer. Please see this flier for more information. Orders are tax exempt. To order, please email briane@researchsolutionsgroup.com or call 251.957.6000.
- Geosyntec has been supporting clients’s needs during the COVID-19 outbreak. Please view their brochures (below) that they have developed that outline their COVID-19 related services.
- Services for COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2
- COVID-19 Support Services for Legal Counsel
- Geosyntec’s SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Sampling and Verification Testing
- Virus Detection Services
- Geosyntec Stop-Gap Compliance Services
- Repurposed and Temporary COVID-19 Response Facilities
- Ozone Disinfection Services for COVID-19 Impacted Facilities
- Manufacturing and Industrial Facilities Affected by COVID-19
- McDowell Knight Roedder & Sledge L.L.C. drafted a memo related to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Access it here.
- Essential Services Letter for your Employees: Many PEP members are performing essential services or serve a manufacturing site that does. The Governor’s office will not be issuing credentials for employees traveling to and from business that are allowed to remain open. However, many employers are providing their employees with a letter of explanation about their essential services/duties to carry with them on their work commute and business related travel. Listed below are sample letters from two very different PEP members. Please feel free to use these as a guide for developing your own letter. Add the information that is specifically related to your company and how it is an essential business. PEP is providing this as an example for companies that are defined as being able to operate under the Governor’s amended order 4-3-2020. (Click here to view Order and FAQ). Please note, PEP is not making any judgement on whether your business meets the criteria that allows continued operations. Please consult the Governor’s office or seek legal advice if you have any questions about whether your business may continue to operate and under what parameters.
- Safety Plus, Inc has shared this information with us about their Cocid-19 related services: In this time of crisis, safe work is critical and Safety Plus remains committed to helping our clients and partners perform their work safely. Safety Plus has seen an increase in demand in two areas for over the past two weeks.
- Essential Employee Bade Printing: https://safetyplusweb.com/essential-employee-badges/
During this pandemic, many organizations in essential infrastructure are requesting Employee Badges so that their staff will be able to verify their identity, employer and credentials if asked during continued government shutdowns. We are offering professionally printed badges to all retainer and non-retainer clients. - Site Safety Personnel for COVID-19 Monitoring: http://safetyplusinc.net/covid-19/?_ga=2.241069701.786283434.1586130778-1926897476.1566593830Safety Plus Inc’s Site Safety Personnel program gives companies access to the SPI network of vetted Site Safety Professionals stationed around the nation, providing organizations with quality safety management solutions for their projects or facilities on short-and long-term bases. SPI matches the right personality to the right job at a competitive price. During this time of crisis, we are staffing COVID-19 Safety Monitors to be stationed at any job site where this position needs to be filled. It is imperative to the health of our economy that work continues in many industries across the nation, but making sure work is being performed safely has never been more important.
- Essential Employee Bade Printing: https://safetyplusweb.com/essential-employee-badges/
- Hampton Inn Mobile is offering a special rate of $69 per night for community’s first responders and front-line workers through June 15, 2020. Please click here for details and to make a reservation.
- Trane Rental Services can help with your COVID-19 response, offering rental services for temporary environments.
- Mayor Stimpson issued a Stay at Home order for residents of Mobile and the Police Jurisdiction. The order includes a curfew beginning at 10pm on Saturday, April 4. Review the full order here.
- ServPro of Mobile County is offering deep cleaning services. The CDC recommends usage of a labeled hospital-grade disinfectant with claims against similar type organisms to COVID-19. View their full list of COVID-19 cleaning services here.
- Proxi Public Relations has developed a guide to help you communicate with your customers and employees. Review it here.
- Tetra Tech is currently providing services related to COVID-19. Please click the links below to access information regarding general services with some focus on modular medical facilities that Tetra Tech is providing to the USACE and general emergency management/resilience services.
- Russell Thompson Butler & Houston LLP share a helpful guide – COVID-19 SBA Disaster Loan Comparison
- The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce shared information about small business loans and payroll protection options for small businesses. Please click here to access..
- Russell Thompson Butler & Houston LLP share a helpful RTBH COVID-19- CARES Act Update
- Hand Arendall Harrison Sale shared this memorandum from the EPA: Memorandum on COVID-19 Implications for EPAs Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Program
- Maynard Cooper Gale has information to share related to the the defense production act: Covid-19 Update: The Defense Production Act: Your Rights and Obligations.
PPE RESOURCES
- Safety Supplies and PPE Now Available at Ritz Safety
- Zebra Marketing is here to help you keep your business safe. They can help you source and purchase PPE and other materials to keep your business clean and sanitized including hand sanitizer, masks and signage. Click here to shop.
FINANCIAL RESOURCES
- Paycheck Protection Program
- U.S. Business Administration COVID-19 Small Business Guidance and Loan Resources
GOVERNMENT ORDERS/GUIDANCE
- Governor Kay Ivey on Friday, May 8 announced plans to reopen the Alabama economy in phases. Please see the amended ‘Safer at Home’ Guidelines via this link as well as the official order.
- Reopening Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses, Schools, and Homes
- Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday, April 28 announced plans to reopen the Alabama economy in phases. Please see the new ‘Safer at Home’ Guidelines via this link as well as FAQ and the official order.
- Updated Essential Worker Guidance from ADPH
- Altogether Alabama is a statewide resource and tool created to find help or to lend a hand. Click here to access, and read about Altogether Alabama here.
- Governor Kay Ivey on Friday, April 3 issued a Stay at Home order to be applied statewide. The order will be effective beginning Saturday, April 4, at 5:00 p.m. and will expire Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. Read the full order here, and review this list of frequently asked questions for businesses in regards to the ‘stay at home’ statewide public health order.
- The Order of the State Health Officer has posted some FAQs on the current Oder of the State Health Officer. Click here to access those FAQs.
- US Department of Homeland Security – Memorandum on Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 Response.
EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE INFORMATION
- COVID-19 Resources from Manufacture Alabama
- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced its first round of published guidance to provide information to employers about meeting their requirements to offer emergency paid sick leave and paid family medical leave offered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) when it takes effect on April 1, 2020. The guidance – provided in a Fact Sheet for Employees, a Fact Sheet for Employers and a Questions and Answers document – addresses critical questions, such as how an employer must count the number of their employees to determine coverage; how small businesses can obtain an exemption; how to count hours for part-time employees; and how to calculate the wages employees are entitled to under this law.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
- Guide to Staying Well and Giving Back
- The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce is encouraging us to support our local business community. They have created the Stay Safe. Stay Local Facebook Group to keep us all updated on operating hours, delivery or carryout options and more.
- The Mobile Medical Society is collecting masks, especially those rated N95, gloves, protective shields and other PPE’s. If anyone has extras that they could donate, they can drop items off at The Medical Society’s Office: 2701 Airport Blvd. Call 251.476.9494 for questions.
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