In an effort to support local businesses during the holidays and through the challenges presented by COVID-19, the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce is relaunching the Living Local Campaign.

Living Local is a series of free promotions designed to showcase products, services, and holiday specials available from our Chamber Members. Below is a list of promotional benefits you can use to showcase your business.

This will be a special email publication for use by restaurants, pubs, clubs, caterers, entertainment venues and arts organizations to promote holiday specials and entertainment provided by Chamber members. To be included, send information about your special promotion to info@SaginawChamber.org. Information can be in the form of an email, pdf flyer or ad. Due Date to be included is November 30.

This list of coupons and special offers is presented on the home page of the Saginaw Chamber website as well as linked to the Chamber's At A Glance Weekly Newsletter which is distributed to a mailing list of over 3,000 individuals. Any member may post a coupon or special offer from their business at any time. You will need to use your Chamber user name and password to gain access. Look here for instructions or email info@SaginawChamber.org for help.

Similar to Living Local Coupons, members may post their events to the Chamber's Member Events list which appears on the home page of the Chamber website and in the weekly At A Glance newsletter. Email your events to info@SaginawChamber.org

If your business has new programs, new employees, an expansion or other big news to share, send the information to info@SaginawChamber.org for inclusion on the Chamber's Member News page. The newest news items appear on the homepage of the Chamber's website with older items on the Member News page. New posts are also included in the At A Glance weekly Newsletter.

For questions, contact info@SaginawChamber.org

Businesses across the state can now schedule free COVID-19 safety consultations as a part of the new Ambassador program partnership with NSF International and MIOSHA. Ambassadors are conducting outreach to statewide businesses to offer education and support to implement regulations on workplace safety.

In addition to tier-one education which provides a brief consultation, businesses can now visit the COVID-19 workplace safety website to schedule tier-two consultations, an in-depth assessment of workplace safety requirements, with NSF International. These in-depth, collaborative meetings will connect employers directly with an Ambassador to identify and implement solutions in their specific workplace free of charge to the business. Tier-two visits are targeted to these at-risk industries: retail stores, restaurants and gyms.

Businesses that successfully complete tier-two visits will soon receive official signage to acknowledge COVID-19 workplace safety commitments and efforts to keep customers and employees safe.

Ambassadors are delivering education toolkits to businesses statewide as part of tier-one efforts for the Ambassador program. The toolkit enables a review of current workplace safety and health procedures to limit the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Ambassadors will not propose citations or issue penalties. They are there to work with businesses to improve conditions and help comply with regulations on workplace safety.

Educational materials in the Ambassador toolkit can be found at Michigan.gov/COVIDWorkplaceSafety.

Employers and employees with specific questions regarding workplace safety and health may contact MIOSHA using the hotline at 855-SAFEC19 (855-723-3219).

The CARES Act provides that any forgiven PPP loan amount should be excluded from gross income for federal tax purposes. But the CARES Act did not expressly address the tax treatment of expenses paid with the forgiven funds. Businesses have been left to wonder whether they could not only receive tax-free funding but also potentially deduct the expenses paid with that funding for a double benefit.

With the recent release of much-anticipated guidelines, the IRS confirmed that otherwise deductible business expenses paid with forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds cannot be deducted for federal tax purposes. The nondeductible treatment applies for any payment of eligible PPP expenses to the extent of the loan forgiveness.

Read more about how the rulings apply to calendar-year and fiscal year taxpayers, and a safe harbor when PPP recipients are denied forgiveness or granted forgiveness of an amount different than expected.