What You Should Know About... |
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COVID-19 Requirements
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries Issues:
Washington State Departments of Labor & Industries and Health issue updated rules for agricultural housing; Gov. Inslee amends the requirements for agricultural workplaces
On Friday, May 28, 2021, Washington updated rules and requirements for agricultural employers to account for guidance from the Centers for Disease Control concerning fully vaccinated individuals. Similar to most other industries throughout the state, fully vaccinated agricultural workers no longer need to wear masks or maintain strict social distancing in the workplace, transportation, and housing.
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Washington State Department of Commerce Awards Nearly 12,000 Business Grants in Newest Round of Working Washington Grants
Round 4 of the Working Washington program awarded $234 million in grants to almost 12,000 small businesses who were impacted by the pandemic. Of those small businesses, over 20% indicated they would use the money to assist in re-opening. More than 4 in 10 businesses awarded are in the hospitality industry.
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The Legislature approved another $50 million for small business grants later this summer. The Washington State Department of Commerce will continue to post information about state and federal funding opportunities at Commerce Grants website.
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U.S. Small Business Administration Programs for Venue Operators is Open; Restaurant Revitalization Fund Portal Now Closed
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WIN with SharedWork
Date: June 8-9, 2021
Cost: FREE!
At a time like this, we can all agree that Washington businesses can't afford to leave federal stimulus money on the table. The average Washington state business enrolled in the SharedWork Program had employees receive $42,000 in benefits fully-funded by the federal government.
Attend all or parts of the conference free, two-day, virtual conference Tuesday, June 8 and Wednesday, June 9 to learn about programs and recent legislative changes that can fuel your post-pandemic recovery strategy. Bring insight and resilience from our conference presenters back to your business, employees, families, and community.
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Start Your Business
Date: June 10, 2021
Cost: FREE!
Start Your Business is a free, one-hour webinar for aspiring entrepreneurs or newly started businesses to gain valuable information about business registration and licensing, other regulatory requirements, and resources for further assistance.
The next webinar is scheduled for June 10 at 9 a.m. The webinar includes brief presentations from several state agency small business liaisons with dedicated time for questions and answers.
Learn more about the SBRR webinars and register below.
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COVID-19 Resources & Impacts
Date: June 23, 2021
Cost: FREE!
Start Your Business is a free, one-hour webinar for aspiring entrepreneurs or newly started businesses to gain valuable information about business registration and licensing, other regulatory requirements, and resources for further assistance. The next webinar is scheduled for June 10 at 9 a.m. The webinar includes brief presentations from several state agency small business liaisons with dedicated time for questions and answers.
Learn more about the SBRR webinars and register below.
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Grow Your Business
Date: July 14, 2021
Cost: FREE!
Grow Your Business is a free, one-hour webinar for established businesses that are actively seeking opportunities to grow their business from beyond its current model – new markets, new products, new locations, new staffing, and new financing. Its focus is on government-supported opportunities and assistance and regulatory impacts of growth to factor in your planning. The webinar includes brief presentations from several state agency small business liaisons with dedicated time for questions and answers. The next webinar is scheduled for July 14 at 2 p.m. The webinar includes brief presentations from several state agency small business liaisons with dedicated time for questions and answers.
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Commerce launches next round of ScaleUp Business Trainings
"ScaleUp: The Rebuild Edition" Adds Three New Cohorts Targeted to Established Small Businesses Looking to Grow in Wake of COVID-19
"ScaleUp: The Rebuild Edition" is focused on helping small businesses restart and rebuild by improving their strategic decision-making, creating new operational efficiencies and strengthening the bottom line. Topics include creating efficient business systems, improving product/service alignment, creating a stronger competitive advantage in the marketplace, understanding financial statements and key business drivers, increasing sales leads and improving the sales funnel. A special “study hall” provides additional opportunities for private mentoring and coaching. The cost of this program valued at $1,599 is provided at no cost to Washington state businesses thanks in part to a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
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Hiring
Say Yes to Hiring Veterans – Join the YesVets Statewide Campaign
If you’re an employer who has hired a veteran on or after Feb. 1, 2016, the state Employment Security Department and Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs would like to connect with you to publicly recognize your commitment to those who served.
Make a commitment to hiring veterans by signing up at YesVets.org. From there you can connect with a veteran employment representative who can help you find the veteran with the skills you need.
The veteran employment representative will be happy to assist employers with educating and identifying tax incentives and benefits for choosing to say, “Yes” to hiring veterans. Once you’ve hired a veteran, you will receive a YesVets decal letting your customers know that you hire veterans with pride.
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Vaccine Incentives
Gov. Jay Inslee today announced a suite of new incentives to help encourage unvaccinated Washingtonians to get the COVID shot.
The Washington State Lottery will be conducting a “Shot of a Lifetime” giveaway series during the month of June, working with state agencies, technology companies, sports teams and higher education institutions across the state to offer a myriad of different prizes to vaccinated individuals.
The incentives announced today include:
- Lottery cash drawings, with prizes totaling $2 million
- Higher education tuition and expense assistance
- Sports tickets and gear
- Gift cards
- Airline tickets
- Game systems and smart speakers
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