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Dept of Commerce Business Briefings, hosted by GNDC
GNDC has partnered with ND Department of Commerce to host a series of business briefings via conference call to businesses and GNDC members, trade associations, and local chambers of commerce to discuss current solutions for stressors caused by COVID-19. These calls will occur on a weekly basis on Thursdays at 11:00. Attendees will need to register to receive the call information.
April 9: NEW CARES Act Guidance to Assist Your Business | registration
April 2: CARES Act | slidedeck | recording
March 26: Emergency Business Financing | recording
March 18: Overall Business Briefing | recording | recapLive tweets at @nodakchamber | #COVID19NDBrief
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Phase I: Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act
H.R. 6074, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act is Phase One of the stimulus packages aid at combating the effects of Coronavirus in the United State. This law which was signed by the President on March 6th provided $8.3 billion towards treating and preventing the spread of COVID – 19. The majority of the funding went to the Department of Health and Human Services to develop vaccines and testing kits and direct aid to state health departments for staffing increases and laboratory equipment.
Phase II: Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)
Code of Federal Regulations, which provides guidance to the FMLA portion
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported this legislation and provided an extensive summary of the bill.
The bill is expected to impact: Unemployment Compensation, Paid Sick Leave, Paid Family and Medical Leave, Provisions for Diagnostic Testing, Health Services, School Nutrition Programs as well as WIC, SNAP and Senior Food Programs, Medical Devices Liability, and Discussion of Liquidity Impact for Small Businesses
March 17: GNDC has provided a brief snippet on Brass Tacks, GNDC's Blog.
March 18: Trump signed H.R. 6201 into law hours after a bipartisan vote passed it in the Senate. This all followed House passage on Saturday, March 14, with some technical corrections being done on Monday, March 16.
March 24: US Dept of Labor Wage and Hour Division published its first round of implementation guidance. Additional information including a fact sheets and FAQs are being created to be published soon.
March 26: U.S. Dept of Labor provides additional guidance including poster for employees.
March 28: U.S. Dept of Labor publishes more guidance including fact sheets for employees and employers
April 1: FFCRA takes effect
Phase III: Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act: CARES Act
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has provided a summary of the bill. SBA also published their final guidelines.
The CARES Act will:
- Assist overly distress sectors in the economy
- Stabilize money market mutual funds
- Unemployment assistance
- Improves Access to Health Care
- Direct economic impact payments
- Small business interruption loans
- Automatic Payments to Individual Tax Payers
- Expanded Unemployment Benefits
- Delay payment of federal payroll taxes
- Employee Retention Tax Credit
- Paycheck Protection Program
- SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans
March 27: Signed by President
Defense Production Act
On March 20, 2020, President Trump made the announcement that the federal government has started utilizing the Defense Production Act. He can utilize this authority to direct US companies to produce the emergency supplies needed. Through Executive Order, President Trump issued Prioritizing and Allocating Health and Medical Resources to respond to the virus spread. This EO directs that critical medical resources needed to respond to COVID-19 are properly distributed to the US healthcare system.
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U.S. Chamber of Commerce Efforts
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is working closely with the White House, US government agencies and foreign government officials to inform and equip businesses with the most important and up-to-date information to ensure we are all adequately prepared to protect Americans at home and abroad. Along with informational pages for resources, response, and impact, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has created a toolkit and resources for businesses to utilize to help promote the message of safety:
- Response and Social Media Resources
- Customizable Workplace Flyer
- UPDATED: Emergency Loans - Small Business Guide and Checklist
- National Small Business Town Hall presented in partnership with Inc.
- Guide to SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)
- Guide to the Employee Retention Tax Credit
- Guide to Temporary Paid Leave and Family Medical Leave
- Coronavirus Small Business Guide
John Kirchner, US Chamber Midwest Region Executive Director, broke down details of Phase II and III of the Coronavirus Relief Plans.
Presentation Slides | Recording -
SBA Emergency Declaration
SBA has approved Disaster Declaration; North Dakota Disaster as a statewide declaration for small businesses affected by Coronavirus. The SBA website is being updated and adding counties for submissions. Please check back regularly to begin to process to access funds. Companies with employees under 500 employees are eligible. These funds cannot be used for growth but assist in operations that would have been covered if not for the Coronavirus (e.g. payroll, fixed debt, accounts payable, etc). Loan types and amounts will be determined by information provided in the application.
Available resources:
- Three-Step Process
- Resource Partners
- Small Business and Loan Resources
- PDF SBA Paycheck Protect Act vs Small Business Disaster Relief Program
Application for both Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and $10K advance
- EIDL timeline is 2-3 weeks from application date to receive funds
- $10K timeline is 3 days from application date to receive funds
- Request funds through a local lender
Available Brass Tacks Blog Posts to assist businesses in the application process:
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