Dear Colleagues;
I hope this message finds you and your families in good health during these challenging times. I wanted to provide you with an update of what our Association is doing to support our members, partners, and consumers as we cope with the COVID-19 outbreak.
First and fore-most our goal is to provide the satellite community and our customers with information. To that end we have updated our home pages,
www.sbca.org
and
www.strongerwithsatellite.com
with information regarding the situation. On the top banner of our site we have a message to the public about our industry's commitment to assist them in staying stay connected. We are also added hyperlinks to our four platform providers logos which link to their dedicated web pages on COVID-19.
SBCA has also created a second banner to highlight the information from the Department of Homeland Security regarding its definition of essential employees, which includes satellite communications as part of the guidance. The entire document can be accessed simply by clicking this tab and will be updated as the situation evolves. While many states are adopting the DHS guidance it is recommended you check with state government regulations to ensure that it is not different from this material.
Our legislative research department is actively tracking all state legislation regarding COVID-19. Many states are looking to pass legislation that will be in addition to what is done on the federal level, in an effort to assist the business community with loans and financial assistance, along with the workforce which may have been impacted by this sudden development. As these bills are enacted we will make them available on a state by state basis.
SBCA’s advocacy resources are being used to provide state and local policymakers with information on what our industry is doing during the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes efforts to expand the reach of rural broadband and areas where we can assist and how our local presence helps the overall community. We are also working to ensure that satellite-delivered solutions are included in any state efforts to help connect consumers with broadband now and in the future.
The SBCA Foundation is working with the disaster recovery community to help provide financial resources to localities that are impacted by the virus but also other natural disasters. We will do our part to help these areas recover.
Finally, SBCA also wants to hear from you, our valuable partners, on your efforts to support the community in this time of need. This includes unique uses for satellite services or other actions you are doing. We will use these in our advocacy efforts to show legislative leaders the importance of our industry in connecting consumers to critical information. You can send this directly to my attention at
schill@sbca.org
.
Stay safe and stay connected.
Steve Hill
President
SBCA
