UPDATE: MARCH 29, 2020
Greetings!

Governor Leon Guerrero issued Executive Order 2020-07 yesterday, Saturday, March 28th, which formally extends the closure of non-essential businesses and furthers the continuation of the quarantine and social isolation period to April 13, 2020. It additionally requires businesses to report employment data to the Guam Department of Labor, suspends all eviction proceedings and clarifies laws on price gouging.

The call to submit employment data to the Department of Labor is now a requirement as described in EO 2020-07 and we urge you to submit this information as soon as possible if you have implemented a reduction in workforce or employee hours. This is essential for the Government of Guam to be eligible to qualify for federal assistance to receive unemployment benefits related to COVID-19. If you have already completed and submitted the forms, there is no need to resubmit. If not, please download the questionnaire, complete and submit to: rapidresponse@dol.guam.gov

Yesterday, in a conference call with various business organizations and grocers, the Governor advised all essential businesses that conduct face-to-face transactions with the public to apply more stringent measures at the workplace to further reduce the risk of exposure for customers and employees . Additional guidance in relation to this directive include:
  • Separation of patrons by at least six (6) feet from each other within the business establishment:
  • Controlling the number of people that enter into a facility;
  • Frequent cleaning and disinfecting of "high-touch" surfaces; and,
  • Provide access to employees and patrons to hand washing facilities with soap and water or with hand sanitizer.
Read these guidelines and more provided by the Department of Public Health here [ DPHSS Guidance Memo. 2020-02] . New supplementary guidance is being prepared by the Governor's legal team. This will be forwarded once available. In the meantime, we urge all our members including supermarkets, village mom & pop stores, hardware centers and banking institutions to comply with these guidelines.


We understand that the Guam Legislature has called a special session for Tuesday, March 31st. We are asking all our Guam businesses to contact your Senators via email or phone to support our small businesses by reducing the BPT. As reported to you on Friday, the Guam Chamber sent a letter to the senators seeking their support to decrease the Business Privilege Tax. If you missed this, you can view the letter here . We are imploring all who are concerned about our employees and keeping them employed to join us in contacting our senators for support of our request. This is about saving jobs as we survive this crisis.

Our quarantine and social distancing situation is all about prevention - being responsible while reducing the risk of exposure. As we all make the most out of this situation, please know that your continued efforts in following the guidelines and supporting our community in your special way has not gone unnoticed. Thank you for what you, your family and your company are doing to address the needs and community impact of COVID-19 in our island and our region.

See you in the next newsletter!

Onward Together,

Catherine Castro
President
Guam Chamber of Commerce

CORONAVIRUS:
UPDATES & INFORMATION FOR YOUR BUSINESS
CARES Act Small Business
Flow Chart
The CARES Act tasks the Small Business Administration with overseeing the distribution of millions of dollars in loans and grants to help small businesses survive the pandemic. It also provides additional funding for SBA’s Resource Partners to provide advice and training to help small businesses respond
to the unprecedented challenges in communities throughout the country.

GOVERNMENT OF GUAM UPDATES
MANDATORY REPORTING:
Guam Department of Labor Questionnaire

As mandated in Executive Order 2020-07, please note that businesses are now required to complete and submit the following information to the Department of Labor. Please send the following information to DOL via email at rapidresponse@dol.guam.gov .

For individual employees:
  1. Name of employer that issued the furlough or layoff

For business owners or managers :
  1. Employer name and location
  2. Number of employees laid off or are anticipated to be laid off
  3. Anticipated date and length of layoffs (e.g. 1 to 2 weeks, 3 to 4 weeks, or unknown at this time)
  4. Number of employees with reduced work hours or anticipated number of employees with reduced work hours
  5. When hours were reduced or anticipated date to implement reduced hours
  6. Specifics on reduced work week imposed (e.g. reduce to 32 hours per week, 20 hours per week, 10 hours per week, or unknown at this time)
  7. Duration of reduced hours (e.g. 1 to 2 weeks, 3 to 4 weeks, or unknown at this time)
The Wage and Hour Division provides information on common issues employers and employees face when responding to COVID-19, and its effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
If your company is interested in applying for SBA's Disaster Loan Assistance Program please do the following:

  • Download all the necessary forms for the application and complete, sign and date it.
  • Compile all financial records for the past 3 years including personal financial statements, schedules of liabilities, profit & loss statements, monthly sales forecast, etc.
  • Scan and save each file in a .pdf format and reduce the size of the file. Large files would slow down the uploading process.
  • Once completed, do either of the three options:

  1. Submit the application on-line (https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela);
  2. Email: disasterloans@sba.gov; or,
  3. Mail it to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. (Return receipt would be advisable.)

U.S. CHAMBER RESOURCES
Today, the U.S. Chamber released a handy small business guide and checklist to help you answer some common questions and navigate the process of the Paycheck Protection Program. This initiative provides 100% federally guaranteed loans to small businesses who maintain their payroll during this emergency. The Federal Government will release more information about this program but in the meantime, the US Chamber has prepared this guide to help small businesses prepare to file for a loan.



GUIDANCE AND RESOURCES

We will update and add to the links below as new guidance and resources become available





For more info, please visit  the CDC’s Guidance for Businesses page .

CALL TO ACTION!
We are asking you to join us as we seek Senators support of the reduction in the BPT to save jobs and help our small businesses. We understand that a special session will take place on Tuesday, March 31st and we want our Senators to address the needs of our people. Let's do this together!
Speaker Tina Muña Barnes
477-2520

Vice Speaker Telena Nelson
989-7696

Senator Amanda Shelton
969-2574

Senator Kelly Marsh Taitano
989-5681

Senator Regine Biscoe Lee
472-3455

Senator Joe S. San Agustin
989-5445

Senator Therese Terlaje
472-3586
Senator Clynton Ridgell
475-4983

Senator Jose Terlaje
989-5301

Senator Sabina Perez
989-2968

Senator Wil Castro
969-1225

Senator Louise Muna
969-9852

Senator Telo Taitague
989-8356

Senator James Moylan
922-6673

Senator Mary Camacho Torres
475-6279
MEMBER ROLL CALL!
It's working! We have heard from several businesses who have kept all of us updated on the status of their business. If you want to keep the public updated on your business, please respond to our social media tags and let us know the status of your company: how you are managing your business, or what your current needs are so we can help you. You can also do this by responding to this email. Thank you!
GUAM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
671.472-6311 | info@GuamChamber.com.gu