April 2021
DWACC April 2021 Newsletter
Welcome New Members, PHMDC Order #15, Vaccine Guidelines, PPP Loan Extended, Dane County Small Business Grant, National Library Week, DAHS Project Graduation, COVID-19 Vaccine Virtual Town Hall, Blood Drives, DAHS Alumni Hall of Fame Nominations, Village of DeForest Housing & Neighborhoods Meeting, Intro to Cybersecurity, and more....

Chiropractic, Craniosacral, & Lactation Counseling

Joan Sergenian
PHMDC New Order #15 goes into effect on April 7th
Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) has issued Emergency Order #15, which eliminates outdoor gathering limits (while maintaining physical distancing) and removes outdoor face covering requirements, among other changes. While indoor face covering requirements remain in effect in Dane County despite last week's Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling, PHMDC officials have confirmed to us that businesses can hold unmasked events outdoors, as long as physical distancing is maintained.

The new order goes into effect Wednesday, April 7, at 12:01 a.m.

Changes in the order include:
 
-- Numbers at outdoor gatherings must be limited to ensure people who don’t live together can maintain six feet physical distancing at all times;
 
-- Face coverings remain required in indoor public spaces, but face covering requirements for outdoor spaces are removed;
 
-- Schools and childcare policy requirements, including distancing and cleaning, have been updated;
 
-- Self-service food stations (e.g., salad bars, buffets and sampling) may resume; and
 
-- Saunas and steam rooms may reopen, with certain provisions.

Indoor gathering and capacity limits remain unchanged. That includes:

-- A gathering inside where food or drink is offered or provided is limited to 150 individuals. A gathering inside where food or drink is not offered or provided is limited to 350 individuals. Individuals must maintain six feet physical distancing and face coverings are required.

-- Indoors, restaurants may open up to 50 percent of their capacity, and tables are not limited to individuals from the same household or living unit, providing six feet of distancing is maintained between customers who are not members of the same household or living unit. Outdoors, restaurants may open up to 100 percent of their capacity, provided they meet the other industry-specific requirements in the order, including that patrons are seated and physically distanced.
 
-- Indoors, taverns may open up to 25 percent of their capacity. Outdoors, taverns may open up to 100 percent of their capacity, provided they meet the other industry-specific requirements in the order, including that patrons are seated and physically distanced.

-- Businesses continue to be limited to 50 percent of approved building capacity and must have written cleaning and hygiene policies in place.




VACCINE GUIDELINES
FOR BUSINESSES
With businesses playing a critical role in encouraging widespread vaccination from COVID-19 (and all Wisconsin residents 16 and older now eligible for vaccination), the state has released new resources to assist businesses in continuing to contribute to the vaccination campaign.
 
Among the resources are guidance for effectively encouraging vaccination among employees, information about how to set up a workplace vaccination clinic, and links to posters that can be downloaded or adapted for posting in workplaces.
 
You can find guidance to help promote vaccination among employees here, a customizable PowerPoint presentation through this page, and information on how employers can raise awareness and connect employees with vaccination options here.


PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM EXTENSION TO MAY 31, 2021
The application deadline for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been extended until May 31, 2021, after President Joe Biden signed the extension last week. The PPP authorization has been extended through June 30, 2021 to provide the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) additional time to process applications received by the application deadline.

The Biden administration also recently announced several changes to the PPP aimed at providing relief to small and minority-owned businesses. Those changes include:

-- Revising the loan calculation formula to help sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed individuals – many of which are women and people of color – receive more relief, and establish a $1 billion set-aside for businesses in this category without employees located in low- and moderate-income areas;

-- Eliminating an exclusionary restriction that prevents small business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions from obtaining relief through the PPP;

-- Eliminating an exclusionary restriction that prevents small business owners who are delinquent on their federal student loans from obtaining relief through the PPP; and

-- Ensuring access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawful U.S. residents by clarifying that they may use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers to apply for relief.

For the latest PPP FAQ document for lenders and borrowers, click here.


SMALL BUSINESS PANDEMIC SUPPORT GRANT PROGRAM EXPANSION
Dane County Executive Joe Parisi has announced an additional $15 million for the county’s Small Business Pandemic Support Grant Program, which launched last year and is being administered by Dane Buy Local. Funds for the new grants were made available through the recently adopted federal stimulus legislation.

Funds are still being awarded from the $4 million allocation the county announced in January, which prompted more than 2,800 applications with an average grant request approaching $18,000. To date, the program has received more than $14 million to assist Dane County small businesses throughout the pandemic.

The application for this round is expected to open by mid-April.
#NationalLibraryWeek
Check out all the wonderful activities and programs happening at our Library!
DAHS Project Graduation Class of 2021
Public Health Madison & Dane County will be hosting a virtual town hall on COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 6pm.
Public health experts will address common concerns related to differences among vaccine efficacy and provide an update about the vaccine distribution process in Dane County.
The event is free and everyone is encouraged to attend. The event will be held on Zoom and participants can register here to receive the Zoom link to attend.
The event will be limited to 500 people on a first come, first serve basis. 



* All donors will receive a coupon for a Pint of Culver's Custard.
* All donors will be tested for Covid-19 Antibodies
* All Presenting donors will receive snacks, juice, & bottled water
* Your donation can save up to 3 lives!
DASD Accepting Nominations
2021 Alumni Hall of Fame
Deadline: April 15th

Do you know of an outstanding DAHS graduate? The DeForest Area School District is accepting nominations of distinguished graduates for consideration to the DeForest Area School District’s 2021 Alumni Hall of Fame.

Village of DeForest
Housing & Neighborhoods Community Meeting
Thursday, April 15th at 7pm
Information on the Comprehensive Plan Update is available here: www.deforestwi.com/complan





Introduction to Cybersecurity
Discover the world of cybersecurity and its impact, as you uncover the most common threats, attacks and vulnerabilities.

You'll Learn These Core Skills:
  • Learn what cybersecurity is and its potential impact to you.
  • Understand the most common threats, attacks and vulnerabilities.
  • Gain insights for how businesses protect their operations from attacks.
  • Find the latest job trends and why cybersecurity continues to grow.

This is a self-paced and completely online, so Login when it's convenient!


Produced by:
Matthew P. McCormick, BSSE, MBA, MSCS, PhD (cand)
Faculty, Columbia Southern University
IT/Cybersecurity
Faculty, Capitol Technology University
Computer Science
Faculty, Eastern Gateway Community College
Cybersecurity/IT
CTO
Technology Decisions, LLC
(608) 556-4230‬
Blood Drive on April 30th from 9:00am-2:00pm
Please sign-up to donate blood at De Forest High School's drive.

All youth donors age 16-24 will receive a FREE $10 e-gift card.

All the units collected at this drive go towards students earning school scholarships. You helped us in the past, can we count on you again?

The need for blood is constant and only volunteer donors can fulfill that need for patients in our community.

Nationwide, someone needs a unit of blood every 2 to 3 seconds and most of us will need blood in our lifetime.

Thank you for supporting the American Red Cross Blood Program!


Norway Grove Memorial Church
820 River Road
De Forest, WI 53532
04/30/2021 | 09:00 AM - 02:00 PM

Youth donors ages 16-24: come give blood April 30 for a $10 e-gift card for a place to eat or shop!

Hosted by DAHS National Honor Society Students


Share your Job Opportunities
on the Chamber Website
Check our Community Websites for upcoming Events and Information

If you have an event that you would like on the Chamber Event Calendar, please go to Chamber Master and fill out an event listing and we will post it on the Chamber website!
2021 DeForest Windsor Area Chamber Community Guide Available Now!
If you would like to have a bundle or a few Community Guides at your place of business, please contact Heike at heike@deforestarea.com
or 608-846-2922

The Digital version is on the Chamber Website:deforestarea.com

You may also view it on the DeForest Times-Tribune website: DTT



DeForest Windsor Area Chamber
Signature Sponsor