Business Roundtable – 8/25/2020 – 10:00am
MISSION: Success in two stages during the Covid-19:
1) Response to the immediate threat
2) Economic recovery when the threat diminishes.
Recap
- City of Monterey. Laurie Huelga filled in today: City announced rental assistance program working with United Way; gave a recap of the LESP grants distributing $712K to local businesses with Chamber’s assistance; beaches will be closed during Labor Day weekend and parking at waterfront will be limited to 50%; Monterey Conference Center was a shelter evacuation center during the weekend - now just a resource for State services.
- Farm Bureau. Update on fires and damage assessment. Little impact on ag, and no vineyards destroyed; some concern about ash falling on crops. About 180,000 N95 masks have been distributed to farm workers.
- Hospitality & Tourism. Message now is “This might not be the best time to visit”; visitor traffic down during the fires; collaborate with Chamber to provide information via kiosk around the Wharf area.
- Retail. Barnyard reports ash affecting outdoor dining.
- State of California. Sacramento report. $300 unemployment assistance ok’d but will take 3-4 months to implement due to antiquated IT in California! Prop 15 getting support in public; Chambers will start the opposition campaign after Labor Day. County Assessor Steve Vagnini will be invited guest speaker at next Business Roundtable (9/1)
- Health Care. Current report. 7-day average still up; CHOMP has 7 COVID-19 patients (down from 18); no visitor policy still in effect; activity at the Hospital is around 75% of pre-COVID; people still fearful of going to hospital although there are virtually no risk in there; MoGo Urgent Care centers are busy treating patients who should go to the ER instead.
- Financial, SBA, Loans & Grants. No legislative moves for second round of PPP; Cal Coastal still has availability of business loans for County businesses.
- Non-Profit sector. 2-1-1 referral system provides evacuation information; warns of scams during this crisis; both United Way and Community Foundation have opened fire relief funds; Food Bank has been very active; SPCA has accepted animals from evacuees.
- Transportation. MST transporting Rippling River residents to Sherwood Hall and Asilomar evacuation centers; VA offers shuttle service from Marina VA clinic to Palo Alto hospital.
- Employee Human Resources. How can employers minimize risk of exposure to other employees due to business travel? How to handle employees who work more than one job?
Next teleconference will be held Tuesday 9/1/2020 at 10:00am
