NOTE: This grant program is administered directly by the state, not CCET and Col-Pac, and it’s first come-first served. The links are to the website where the applications WILL be posted when ready. We suggested going there and hitting “refresh” regularly until it’s finally posted. – CCET

The Oregon legislature and Governor Brown approved $20 million more to Business Oregon’s Emergency Business Assistance Grant Fund. The application for this new round of funds will be available beginning TODAY, Thursday on Business Oregon's website. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come first-served basis.

Applications will be processed on a first-come-first-serve basis with a geographic overlay to ensure statewide distribution of proceeds. We anticipate that the funds will go very quickly and will be oversubscribed and therefore recommend submitting an application as soon as the portal opens. More detail here…

To be eligible, a business must show it was prohibited from operations by the Governor’s Executive Order 20-12, or demonstrate a 25% reduction in sales over a 30-day period in 2020 compared to a comparable period in 2019.

TODAY, Thursday, the application form and additional details will be found on Business Oregon’s website in multiple languages. Grants will be reviewed on a first-come first-served basis, and will be allocated so that there is an equitable geographic distribution of funds as dictated by the Oregon Legislature. Visit Business Oregon's website here for more information.

Governor Brown also announced that the state will commit $55 million in financial assistance to support Oregon businesses who have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. These funds will be allocated to counties to distribute to businesses who have been financially impacted, with a priority for the hospitality industry, businesses impacted by the freeze, small businesses, and women, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and Tribal-owned businesses.

 

The $55 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds will be allocated to counties, with each county receiving a base of $500,000 plus a per capita allocation of the remainder of the funds. The counties will be responsible for deciding how businesses apply to receive funds and communicating the application process to businesses.

 

The Governor’s Office anticipates that funds will be distributed to counties within the next several weeks. Businesses who are interested in applying should contact their county for more information. 

AND… Lay-off Aversion Grants – Small allocation – APPLY NOW!

Please be aware that Northwest Oregon Works (NOW), our regional workforce partner, received another small round of layoff aversion funding. NOW invites applications that propose creative lay off aversion solutions to impacts of COVID-19.  Examples could be purchase of technology or remote access equipment need to support remote work, offset of employer costs associated with additional/non-traditional work shifts required to accommodate social distancing and government capacity limitations, costs associated with implementing social distancing protections, training costs, etc. 

This is a small allocation, but we wanted you to know about it. There is only about $9000 for Columbia County businesses. The application is attached.  If you qualify, apply quickly! NOW will evaluate each application and try to be as equitable as possible to the region.

Send questions or to apply, complete the application and return to Heather DeSart, NOW Director, email: heather@onwib.org.

If you’re one of more than 100 who applied for a Round 4 Emergency Small Business Grant from CCET, thank you for your patience. We expect to be able to send award notifications by the end of the week. Watch your inbox.

Thursday, November 19, 2020, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Via Zoom

You do not want to miss this presentation. As you may know Monday, November 16, new emergency temporary rules went into effect from Oregon OSHA. These rules directly impact how you operate your business. We have arranged this timely presentation on the new rules and a conversation around these rules with expert Russ Reasoner, Sr., who is an Industrial Hygienist with Oregon OSHA. He will provide us with the latest information regarding the new rules and what you need to know as a business owner.

These presentations are made possible due to the generosity of the Hillsboro Chamber Small Business Champion Business Leaders: Applied Materials, Inline Commercial Construction, Intel and Kaiser Permanente.

This program is free of charge. Registration is required.

Register

Presenters: Michael Murdoch, Wauna Credit Union, Jason Moos, InRoads Credit Union

Register here now. COVID Business Tune-Up, and 8-week, small business workshop series, just one-hour per week of information, advice, strategy, and tactics for everything from marketing to HR. Be more agile and strengthen your business. Register here now.

Brought to you by: CCET, Wauna Credit Union, South County Chamber of Commerce, Clatskanie Chamber of Commerce, Rainier Chamber of Commerce, and Keep It Local

Keep it Local Columbia County & Columbia County Economic team (CCET) encourage you to shop locally with participating businesses in the Catch the Holiday Spirit Across Columbia County campaign. This year more than ever, our small businesses need your support.

Don’t miss your opportunity to win gift cards during the 4-week campaign.

The 5^th Annual “Catch the Holiday Spirit Across Columbia County” starts on November 21^st and runs thru Dec 31^st. It’s a coordinated county-wide holiday marketing campaign sponsored by Wauna Credit Union. Nearly 90 participating local businesses include: retail with some offering curbside pickup, online businesses, professional services businesses that support “shop small”, and many more! You may also donate local, purchase, and “gift” gift cards from participating businesses. Find 86 different businesses from across Columbia County on our website www.KeepItLocalCC.com.

Find participating businesses at https://keepitlocalcc.com/shop-local/catch-the-holiday-spirit/.

Fill up your “Spirit Card” by reporting what you spend at participating businesses during the campaign period. Then return it to a drop off location to be entered in the prize drawing (a minimum of 3 prizes worth $50 each will be awarded in each community and a grand prize valued at $150.00 for the county drawing). To be COVID-19 safe, please self-report on your card.

To celebrate Shop Small Business Saturday, a digital Holiday Gift Guide will be available on November 28^th on our facebook page and website. The catalog includes suggestions for gifts to purchase directly from the catalog, or learn where to purchase or contact the business to order. Get the flyer…

The nation's COVID-19 death toll surpassed 250,000 on Wednesday and hospitalizations set new records every day this week, nearing 77,000 as of Tuesday. Nationwide, newly confirmed infections jumped by more than 80 percent over the last two weeks, nearing an average of 160,000 per day. Infections are rising in every state. The wave of new cases has prompted governors and mayors across the country to issue mask mandates and new restrictions on public and other gatherings just before Thanksgiving. U.S. hospitals are converting everything from chapels to parking garages into treatment areas to handle surging coronavirus cases. "We are depressed, disheartened, and tired to the bone," said Alison Johnson, director of critical care at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee. [The Associated Press]

Tuesday, Governor Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-65 following last week's announcement of a statewide freeze to stop the rapid community spread of COVID-19 in Oregon. For more details about the freeze:

Statewide sector specific guidance for the two-week freeze is now available on the Oregon Health Authority site at https://govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-COVID-19.

Or see the news release and check out the graphic below. You can also find this graphic in multiple languages for sharing here.

All Oregonians can apply for food, cash and child care assistance provided through the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) from home without having to visit an office in person.

To apply from home, visit govstatus.egov.com/or-dhs-benefits for information on how to apply for assistance using an online application, email, mail, telephone or application drop off.

Oregonians who need urgent and ongoing food assistance can visit needfood.oregon.gov.

For more ways to connect with ODHS or to find other types of assistance, contact 211info:

OHA’s COVID-19 weekly report released today set pandemic highs for daily cases and hospitalizations.

COVID-19 has claimed 10 more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 788, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Oregon Health Authority reported 1,099 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday bringing the state total to 59,669.

The new cases are in the following counties: Baker (9), Benton(13), Clackamas (82), Clatsop (4), Columbia (6), Coos (5), Crook (6), Curry (3), Deschutes (40), Douglas (33), Gilliam (2), Grant (6), Harney (3), Hood River (11), Jackson (108), Jefferson (15), Josephine (20), Lake (8), Lane (115), Lincoln (5), Linn (30), Malheur (33), Marion (84), Morrow (2), Multnomah (210), Polk (9), Tillamook (4), Umatilla (29), Union (3), Wasco (4), Washington (171), and Yamhill (26).

Email info@columbiacountyoregon.com to make arrangements for pick up today 10:00 – 3:00 at the CCET offices at the Library in St. Helens.

FREE disposable face-coverings for customers, washable & re-usable (up to 70 times) face-coverings for employees, sanitizer, gloves, and gowns are back. (1 package of these washable, re-chargeable BioSmart masks will last you a full year. Which calculates to a nickel per mask use…) Order forms can be downloaded here: or right here Order forms . Send your order to us by email  

Columbia County Economic Team (CCET) and Keep It Local are working to assist businesses navigate through the Coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic disruption….and plan for recovery. Business survival and retention is a top priority. We all want to emerge from the other side of this able to restore our businesses, livelihoods and economy. Reaching out countywide, Columbia County Economic Team will be communicating with you regularly.