Dear Retailers,

I hope this newsletter continues to find you and your family healthy and safe. Here's a quick review of topics in this issue:

• Virtual Friday will be weekly (for now)! An event page will open Friday morning on BMS website with all virtual events. We are adding a section this week for any Virtual Friday specials/deals/discounts. You do NOT need to be live to be included, you only need an ad or event specific to Friday.

• Virtual Friday ad or event submission, please only submit participating info in the google form found here.

• New procedure to submit social media ads. We hope this will make things easier for you, just share your posts to our closed Fb retailers' group. We will get them posted within 24 hrs in most cases. Not a member? Request to join here. Also a great place to quickly connect with other retailers.



• US Congresswoman Sherrill to hold telephone townhall TODAY Tue 4/7 4:50pm.

• #BoontonStrong #VirtualBoonton #ShopBoonton banners and signs coming this week!



• Health regulations and information for Food Establishments from the Town of Boonton & Health Department

• Additional assistance information added, NJEDA grant open, NJEDA Loan app to open Monday 4/13

We at BMS are doing our very best to keep you up to date about programs available to small business owners during this uncertain time, while keeping the greater Boonton area aware of how to connect with, shop from, and support our downtown businesses. If you have any suggestions, additional resources to share, or a question we can help with, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Wishing you all health and strength,

Laura and the BMS Board of Trustees

VIRTUAL FRIDAYS

Our first ever Virtual First Friday happened Friday 4/3. The BMS website changed its home page to the event page 4/3 from 3:45-10 pm to streamline marketing of one site and allowing retailers as much time as possible to create a link and participate. We had 6 live events that participated. While some retailers submitted links to their website/SM, only LIVE events were added to the event page. As this was the first time creating a virtual market place, there were lessons learned and things we will be doing differently for our next event. For future virtual Fridays, our web page will change over from 9am-10pm. Guests only need to type in boontonmainstreet.org and they will go directly to the event page where all live events will be listed in order by start time. In addition to LIVE events, there will be a section added for Virtual Friday discounts, deals and specials. Food establishments, retailers, and services are encouraged to send in a Friday specific ad and link. For example, if you are offering 20% off gift cards purchased on Virtual FF, send that info and it will be added to the event page. Please note, general website or social media links that do not have a specific event or discount will not be added to the event page. Instead, we are happy to add that info to our general website under the COVID-19 sub pages.

How to participate in our upcoming Virtual Friday:

• Submit all event info via google form found here. by Thursday 4/10 at 12pm.
• Information sent in multiple locations created some problems and makes building a page more difficult, please DO NOT EMAIL information about your virtual event, send all info via form.
• The form will ask you for:
• a brief description of your event
• a link that will take your customers directly to your event (if using Fb live, send link to your Fb page)
• an optional image (If you do not provide an image, BMS will add one from your website)
• This information will be copied and pasted into the event page, please check your information for accuracy. BMS reserves the right to edit/cut information as necessary. Below is a screen shot of the format the page will appear in to help you decide what you would like to submit. Each logo is hyperlinked to the live event link.

NJ Assistance Programs

Please see the mutiple listings at the end of this issue. In addition, this wizard created by the NJ Economic Development Authority (beta version) is a great place to start. Use the buttons to navigate to NJEDA most current updates or go right to the wizard to get started. The NJEDA grant application is open, the Small Business Assistance Loan will open Monday April 13 at 9am.

Telephone Town Hall on Small Business and Unemployment Assistance with Representative Mikie Sherrill

Tuesday, April 7th, 4:50 PM

US Congresswoman Mikie Scherrill will be holding a telephone town hall Tuesday April 7th, 4:50pm. You need to register at least one hour before the session begins, register here, you can also watch live from her website. She will be joined by public officials who will help answer your questions and she will also give an update on what she has been working on in Congress to support coronavirus response efforts in New Jersey.

BMS weekly Newsletter to the Community

Continue to send all updated info to media@boontonmainstreet.org and we will add it to the next newsletter as well as update it on our website.



Please send all submissions for the weekly community newsletter to media@boontonmainstreet.org by Friday at 5pm, the newsletter will go out weekly on Monday mornings. Retailers will not need to submit info every week unless there is a change, we will carry information over from the previous newsletter.

#BoontonStrong #VirtualBoonton #ShopBoonton

Unifying Graphic

The board has approved printing of this graphic in a 2'x3' banner for each and every retailer to hang in their window. We will also be hanging a banner with a similar message at the top and bottom of Main Street. More info to come about distribution as soon as signs are available, they will be available this week! Download the graphic here in PDF format, or save it from the image below in PNG format. Please help spread this throughout our community by sharing within your networks. BMS would like to thank Steve Kampschmidt, BMS President and owner of Freedom Found Financial located at 408 Main St., for donating costs to design the logo. Another thank you goes to Mara of StretchSource at 416 Main St for suggesting the unifying theme and use of the logo.

Connect with fellow Main Street Retailers

and

NEW way to submit Social Media ads

Join the BMS closed Retailers' Fb page to connect with fellow retailers and get BMS news quickly. Instead of emailing your social media posts to us, post them here to be shared on BMS Fb and IG feeds within 24 hours. Tagging BMS in a post will not get your post shared on our feed.

Club 44 is currently hosting

 weekly Zoom calls Tuesdays at 7pm

 connect using the button or copy this link into your browser https://pacificcollege.zoom.us/j/5183854896

This is an opportunity to be face to face and connect with your fellow

Main Street Business Owners

FOR FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS

FROM THE TOWN OF BOONTON AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Please read COVID-19 Prevention Guidance for Food Establishments prepared by the Town of Boonton and the Health Department, full document can be found here.

Resources in Boonton

NJ's 25 Legislative Representatives contact info

Small Business Resources

Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order No. 104 - CLICK HERE FOR PDF which lays out new specific restrictions and rules, many of which apply to businesses.

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced the federal income tax filing due date is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. Click here for more details.

Taxpayers can also defer federal income tax payments due on April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020, without penalties and interest, regardless of the amount owed. This deferment applies to all taxpayers, including individuals, trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers as well as those who pay self-employment tax.

The NJEDA has created a webpage that directs business owners to various resources to assist in coping financially with the COVID-19 public health crisis. This site will be updated with any new programs or support that becomes available.

CDC Guidance for Businesses - A guide for business and employers for dealing with the Coronavirus from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Employee Benefits Info on One Page - Here is a chart on what benefits employees qualify for when their work status is impacted by coronavirus.

New Jersey set up a website with information for businesses and the impact of coronavirus.

The U.S. Small Business Administration set up a website with info on business guidance & loan resources related to coronavirus.

The Morris County Chamber of Commerce issued a memo with information concerning the Coronavirus

Facebook is announcing a $100 million grant program for small businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Click here for more information.

The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support households, businesses, and the U.S. economy overall in this challenging time. Click here for more information.