March 23, 2020
Mailing & printing designated essential support
In a memo Sunday, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that the Postal System is "designated an essential function under federal law during times of emergency" and cited that, in order for the USPS to perform its duties, the mailing and printing industry support essential government services . Read the full letter below and use it to defend your business.
$15 billion stimulus needed for USPS
In order to keep the United State Postal Service (USPS) running, a $15 billion short-term cash infusion is needed during this time of uncertainty.

Within our region, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)  serve on the   U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is tasked with resolving this issue.

According to Lisbeth Lyons, Printing Industries of America's advocate on Capitol Hill, Committee Chair and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is reportedly willing to entertain $10 billion, which is less than needed, and has asked the USPS for more data. USPS Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan is sharing the needed data and previously shared that the full $15 billion is needed to make it through the rest of this fiscal year (until Sept. 30). 
 
As the American people become more and more isolated due to social distancing and orders to stay home, the USPS is crucial and provides a critical function to keep us all connected and deliver vital supplies to homes, including medication and food. The USPS is also critical to the commercial print & packaging industry.
 
Please email both Sen. Lankford and Sen. Hawley by 4pm today before this important vote. Share with them about your business, your customers and that you need them to support the $15 billion cash-infusion for the USPS.
Makin, small businesses talk with Trump
On Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump had a conference call with small business leaders to discuss efforts to address the COVID-19 crisis, which included PIA National President Michael Makin.

Trump praised small business as the engine of growth for the economy and pledged his administration will work with Congress to give direct payments to businesses across America.

Highlights included:
  • A $300 billion relief package.
  • SBA to rapidly access disaster relief loans for small businesses (loan applications are open now, visit: https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/)
  • Bank assistance to small businesses to defer loan payments
  • Moving tax day from April 15 to July 15
  • Paid sick leave at no cost to small business. Dollar for dollar tax credit to help with paid leave. 50 employees or less can use payroll tax system.

Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator  Jovita Corranza  was also on the call. She reaffirmed SBA was available for small business through the following:
  • She committed to cutting red tape to make it easy for economic injury disaster loans of up to $2 million per company
  • Payments deferred on loans from 6 months to one year
  • Small business can apply for relief directly online at www.sba.gov/disaster

Labor Secretary  Eugene Scalia  was also on the call and addressed:
  • Regulatory burden relief
  • Guidance on flexibility on unemployment insurance programs
  • FMLA assistance
  • Dollar-for-dollar reimbursement through the tax-credit system

PIA National will attempt to secure a recording of the call and get exact details from the White House, which will be placed on their  COVID-19 Resources Page .
COVID-19 employment resources
If you're unsure about labor laws and best practices surrounding COVID-19, PIA National HR Vice President Adriane Harrison is keeping this webpage updated amidst the changing employment landscape. If you have a question not answered here, let us know .
Shelter-in-place orders effective Tuesday for Kansas City counties, Dallas County
Various cities and counties around our four-state region have begun issuing shelter-in-place orders . PIA MidAmerica will continue to update members in each region as these decisions go into effect and outline the specific language in each order that affects business. Read our releases from Sunday below.
Association president lobbies local goverments
PIA MidAmerica President Teresa Campbell spent the weekend lobbying local government officials enacting shelter-in-place orders. While we firmly believe these orders include language that points to printing and packaging supporting other essential businesses, Campbell is asking for print, packaging and related industries to be explicitly listed as essential businesses outright . See copies of Campbell's letters below, and message her to learn how you can make an impact too.
Member innovation: Trabon creates face shields
Trabon Group is a 50-year-old, family printing and manufacturing business in Kansas City, Missouri. Due to recent global events, their demand for restaurant printing & products has dropped significantly, resulting in layoffs, salary cuts and tremendous uncertainty. They went back to the drawing board and came up with an innovative idea. Based on capabilities required for their printing operations, they prototyped and collected supplies required to produce face shields on a large scale.

Discover more about USA Shields here .
Help us promote you
Tell us if you're open and what unique ways you plan to meet client & public needs during this time. We're compiling a list of members and what they're offering (drive-up, online portals, new services etc.). So let us know by 5pm today — we'll publish and continually update the list on our website and through social outlets.