This is certainly a challenging moment for the business community. As the people in our business community make effort to protect the health of their families, neighbors, customers and employees they are also aware of the economic impact COVID-19 will likely have on the bottom line.

With a situation that is fluid and changing daily, we may not yet fully understand the impacts of COVID-19 on our local business community. The Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers Association is urging all local businesses to be prepared for disruptions, and to take precautions to protect your customers, employees and business from harm.

Many large businesses may already have an emergency or crisis plan in place. We encourage small businesses to do the same. A few minutes of planning can go a long way towards protecting the people and assets that make your business viable now and in the future.

We have compiled a number of resources and links on our website that may be helpful for you.

Here are some things to consider to protect your customers, employees and your business:

¯ For your customers: Make your place of business as hygienic as possible and communicate what you are doing to customers so they feel comfortable visiting.

¯ For your employees: Check, modify, and communicate HR policies regarding remote working, sick-leave, and compensation during health crisis. Try to ensure your policies are as flexible and non-punitive as possible. Sick employees should be encouraged to stay home.

¯ For your business: Prepare for economic impact on your business.

¯ Capital: Create, confirm, or expand your line of credit.

¯ Staffing: Develop staffing plans for varying levels of customers and revenue (what does an 80% scenario plan look like?).

¯ Insurance: Check with your insurance provider to understand your coverage and options.

¯ For your workflow: Cross-train employees for key functions so that daily schedules can continue relatively uninterrupted by potential employee absences. Where relevant, consider staggering start and end times to reduce large numbers of people coming together at the same time; and create and test remote employee collaboration systems (consider apps such as Slack and Zoom).

¯ For your cashflow: Communicate with your landlord (or tenants), vendors, and lenders about expectations and request flexibility (better to have that conversation now).

¯ For yourself: Eat well, sleep, and exercise. Taking care of yourself in this time of stress will improve your resistance to infection and resilience in managing difficult business situations. And of course, wash your hands all the dang time and don’t touch your face, or anyone else, for that matter.

We hope you’ll use these resources to prepare now, even while we all continue to hope for the best here in Chautauqua County. The Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers Association is here to serve you. If we can help to provide additional information we will be happy to do so. Please let us know what you need.