Lt. Governor McKee’s small business call every Tuesday & Friday at 12:00PM

Below is a short summary of some important links/updates regarding things like critical vs. non-critical retailers. First, here is the information for Lt. Governor McKee’s next small business call tomorrow (every Tuesday & Friday):
 
Please call in any time starting at 11:45 am, with the agenda beginning promptly at 12:00 pm.
 
Agenda for 3/31/20:

• SBA Director Mark Hayward to address new information from the Small Business Administration and related federal funding  
• Update on Gift it Forward, small business site which now has 700+ businesses registered (www.RIsmallbusiness.org)
• Small business,  501(C3) and C19 non-profit information concerning federal funding options
• Use LtGov20@gmail.com for questions only (We are working on following up on Friday’s; SBA related questions will be discussed tomorrow)
• Please call: 866-880-0098  Passcode: 54933514#   (*Our service provider has muted the beeps & we always have staff on the call to report any technical difficulties to me/any speakers- i.e. if the sounds cuts out again)
• No need to RSVP, but if you or someone you know will be joining the call for the first time, please email me so I can update my list. 

• Joe Rodio: Legal Counsel, Office of the Lt. Governor
  • Brief on letters sent to Congressional Delegation & US Secretary of Labor
  • Unemployment fund: important that funds are replenished in a way that excludes COVID related claims from small business history to keep costs down
  • Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employee Paid Leave Rights: Wrote to US Sec. of Labor regarding this; see https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employee-paid-leave
  • Paycheck Protection; expansion of SBA loan program; business can borrow up to 2.5x of monthly payroll for a year or $10mil (whatever is less) for # of expenses; will be forgiven if you maintain payroll and employee count for 8 months (has now been passed by Congress & signed by the President since the call) see https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/-reed-outlines-small-business-assistance-and-urges-riers-to-help-local-business-survive & see https://www.reed.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Small%20Business%20Owners%20Guide%20to%20the%20CARES%20Act%20final%20(002).pdf
• Justin Gontarek: OceanSide Graphics
  • Gift it Forward initiative (www.RIsmallbusiness.org)
  • New partner: WPRI who will provide free media clips
  • Over 500+ businesses have signed up (since the call now 700+)
  • Need to start driving more people to the site (social media/share into networks)
• Online website building help (TBA)
• Liz Tanner: Director Department of Business Regulation (DBR)
  • Essential vs Non-essential? Not happening in RI (since the call there is now a critical vs. non-critical classification; https://dbr.ri.gov/documents/DBR_Critical_retail_businesses_list_032820.pdf)
  • Just restrictions: mandated remote work via executive order;
  • No onsite consumption of food/drink; delivery/curbside takeout of food, beer, and/or wine only
• Chris Lally: Babson College Senior & Entrepreneur
  • Discussed texting form on www.RIsmallbusiness.org
  • Form bottom of homepage; will receive text updates from LG’s office, supporting SB, & sharing stories of how business have been hurt/helped

• RI DLT (unemployment questions, etc.): http://www.dlt.ri.gov/pdfs/COVID-19%20Workplace%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
• COVID-19 Business Checklist: https://commerceri.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID-19-BUSINESS-GUIDELINES_V3.pdf
• DBR Critical/Non-Critical Businesses: https://dbr.ri.gov/documents/DBR_Critical_retail_businesses_list_032820.pdf
• DBR Guideline Questions?: https://dbr.ri.gov/critical/
• RIDOH (testing, updates, etc.): https://health.ri.gov/diseases/ncov2019/