Town Hall - Reopening Businesses

PORT & CHAMBER UPDATES

April 28, 2020

Business and Community News

Shop Local & Win Dayton $$$$

Check out the Dayton Chamber Facebook page for their weekly Shop Local challenge. Each Tuesday another challenge begins. Buy an item locally and share a picture of your purchase on that week's post. You'll earn a chance to win $25 in Dayton Dollars. Check out this week's post.

Business Reopening Slowly Begins

Governor Inslee made the first move toward a gradual reopening of Washington State's economy with his announcement last Friday of the easing of restrictions on the construction industry and a rollback of recreation restrictions on May 5th. What could the reopening of more businesses in Columbia County look like?

Join Martha Lanman, Director of Columbia County Public Health, the Port of Columbia, and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce for a discussion on the e xisting Construction Restart Guidelines , existing Outdoor Recreation Restart Guidelines , and proposed Washington Retail Association Reopening Workplan. Please join us to provide feedback on what could work for your business and what sources you have (if any) for masks, gloves, and other protective equipment.

COVID-19 Town Hall

What Could Business Reopening Look Like Here?

Thursday, April 30th from 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Click on the link just before noon to join.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8916869076

Additional PPP Funding

The latest report from the SBA on the rollout of additional PPP funds is mixed. Yesterday was rough as the system was overwhelmed again and websites were unresponsive, but many loans were approved and it looks better for small businesses. Take action now if you plan to apply.

Here's today's report directly from the SBA:

PPP Loans Approved (nationally) as of April 28 at 10 a.m. PT:

More than 475,000 loans valued at more than $52 billion processed by more than 5,100 lenders were approved.
Small lenders are leading the way. More than 331,000 – or nearly 70% of all loans approved – are from small lenders with fewer than $10 billion in assets, typically community financial institutions and smaller federally-insured banks and credit unions.
When combined with medium lenders who have assets between $10 and 50 billion, 87% of all approved loans (415,000 of 475,000) have been made by small and medium lenders.
In terms of dollar volume, nearly $30 billion in approved loans are from small lenders; and, $40 billion in approved loans from both small and medium lenders combined.
So far, 77% of loan volume has been processed by small and medium lenders.
The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act stated a minimum of $30 billion in PPP loans needed to be processed by small lenders. This cap has already been reached as loans from small lenders continue to be approved.

Business List

Thank you to everyone who has been getting takeout, buying groceries, and just generally shopping at home. Please continue to help our businesses as much as you can.

Columbia County Falling Behind

The Washington State census response rate as of 4/28/2020 is 59.1%. Columbia County's response rate has barely changed at 50.0% Only 18% of Columbia County respondents have done so using the internet. Local funding depends on our census count! Please encourage your family and friends to respond to the census. It only takes about 10 minutes, and if you don't have a code, all you have to do is put in your address.

CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT CENSUS FORM ONLINE