MAINE STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
  • About Us
    • Connect with Us
    • Affiliates & Partners
    • Our Board
    • Meet the Team
    • President's Message
    • External Social Media Policy
  • Membership
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Join the Chamber
    • Return on Investment
    • Member Search
  • Public Policy
    • Public Hearings of Interest
    • Legislation of Interest
    • Public Policy Committees
    • Grassroot Resources
    • Find Your Legislator >
      • Representatives
      • Senators
  • Events
    • Calendar of Events
    • 2022 Annual Meeting
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Business Day at the Statehouse
    • Board Meetings & Board Events
    • DC Fly-In
    • Legislative Social
    • Policy Issues Workshops
    • Regional Breakfasts
    • Scramble for Scholars
    • Webinars by The Maine State Chamber of Commerce
  • Initiatives
    • Campus Career Connect
    • Dream It. Do It.
    • Education Foundation
    • Keep Maine Competitive
    • Maine Economic Research Institute (MERI)
    • This is ME Counting on You
    • Senior Leaders of Tomorrow Development Program
  • Newsroom
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Impact Newsletter
    • MSCC Blog
    • The Bottom Line
    • The Maine Take
    • Making Maine Work
    • MERI Roll Call
    • OneVoice Maine Magazine
    • Policy Brief Series with Educate Maine
    • Press Kit
  • Member Login

 

 

The COVID-19 Edition for Monday, July 6, 2020

To view this edition of Impact online, click here.

 

 

Welcome to your COVID-19 Impact newsletter!

As a valued member of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, we plan to stay in touch with you several times each week through emails like this one and on Facebook and Twitter, until the pandemic passes. We intend to provide you with the latest state and federal information, as well as highlighting the creativity and innovation that is occuring here in Maine during this unpredictable and rapidly changing time. To assist you in navigating the uncertainties ahead, we have created a diverse and comprehensive collection of web-based resources to help you take care of yourself and your family, your employees, your business, and your community.

Do you have a question? ASK THE EXPERTS.

We are here to help in any way we can!

 

 

Dana Connors call-in to discuss the "This is ME Counting on You" public awareness campaign and Maine's reopening

With New England states faring relatively well in controlling the spread of the coronavirus, and as Maine's economy is reopening, Maine State Chamber President Dana Connors joined George Hale and Ric Tyler this morning to discuss Maine's reopening progress, its ranking in the national pandemic lists, and the Maine State Chamber's newest public awareness campaign, "This is ME Counting on You."

 

Legislation Co-Sponsored by Collins to Extend PPP Application Deadline to August 8th Signed into Law

Previously, small businesses had until June 30th to apply for a PPP loan

U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the co-author of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and a member of the Small Business Task Force, announced on July 4 that the President has signed into law a bill she co-sponsored giving small business owners more time to apply for a PPP loan. The legislation extends the U.S. Small Business Administration's authority to approve PPP loans through August 8, 2020.

 

Last week, Senator Collins spoke on the Senate floor to outline her priorities for the next phase of the Paycheck Protection Program, including allowing employers with fewer than 300 employees that have seen their revenues decline by more than 50 percent apply for a second PPP loan. In Maine, nearly 27,000 small employers have received loans totaling more than $2.2 billion, with translates to an average business size of approximately seven employees. The PPP is helping to sustain nearly 200,000 jobs in Maine alone.

 

Senators Collins, King Announce More than $1.1 Million for Maine Hospitals to Combat COVID-19

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services has been awarded $1,122,202 to support their ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

"This investment will provide critical support to Maine's dedicated medical professionals who are on the front lines working to keep our communities safe and healthy during this difficult time," said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement. "We will continue our efforts to help provide health care providers throughout Maine with the resources they need to respond to COVID-19 and treat patients."

 

This funding, awarded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services" Hospital Preparedness Program, will support hospitals and other health care providers to train their workforce; expand telemedicine and the use of virtual health care; procure supplies and equipment; and coordinate effectively across regional, state and jurisdictional, and local health care facilities to respond to COVID-19. In addition, this funding will advance the mission of the National Special Pathogen System to enhance national capacity and capability to respond to highly infectious diseases now and in the future.

 

 

Golden, Kelly Introduce Bill to Create Successor to PPP Program, Provide Flexible, Long-Term Relief for Hard-Hit Small Businesses

On July 2, Congressman Jared Golden and Congressman Mike Kelly (PA) introduced the bipartisan Reviving the Economy Sustainably Towards a Recovery in Twenty-twenty (RESTART) Act, a bill to provide America's small businesses with the flexible, targeted relief they need to survive a prolonged economic downturn and provide jobs. The RESTART program created by the legislation would target small businesses hardest-hit by the COVID-19 crisis, offering loans for periods up to one year. Those loans would be partially forgivable for a broad array of expenses, including payroll, mortgage interest, rent and utility payments, PPE, and payments to independent contractors. The RESTART Act creates a small business relief program under the Small Business Administration, which would: 

* Offer partially forgivable loans to small businesses that had a greater than 25 percent drop in their total income compared to the period before the coronavirus pandemic;

* Set the loan period between six months and one year depending on severity of income losses;

* Allow loan forgiveness for a wider range of expenses, including payroll costs (not forgivable for businesses with more than 500 employees); mortgage interest, rent, and utility payments; interest on existing debts; and, personal protective equipment (PPE);

* For loan amounts that are not forgiven, defer principal payments for up to four years;

* Allow applicants for PPP to submit a modified PPP application to apply for RESTART;

* Require publicly traded companies to repay the full loan amount; and,

* Report on identities and any loan forgiveness amounts of all recipients of the RESTART loans who have 50 or more employees.

 

Maine's Primary Election is July 14

Request Your Absentee Ballot HERE
* Your Vote Strengthens Maine's Economy *

A YES vote on Questions 1 and 2 - expanding broadband and investing in transportation improvements - will help us get there!

Before each election, the Secretary of State's office provides information about the questions appearing on each ballot. Currently two referendum questions will appear on the July 14, 2020, Special Referendum Election Ballot. Each question is discussed in detail in the Maine Citizen's Guide to the Referendum Election (PDF / Word) and a Treasurer's Statement, which includes the referendum questions; the legislation each question represents; a summary of the intent and content of the legislation; an explanation of the significance of a "yes" or "no" vote; an analysis of the debt service on the bond issues; and, an estimate of the fiscal impact of each referendum question on state revenues, appropriations and allocations.

Question 1: Bond Issue

 

Do you favor a $15,000,000 bond issue to invest in high-speed internet infrastructure for unserved and underserved areas, to be used to match up to $30,000,000 in federal, private, local or other funds?

Question 2: Bond Issue

 

Do you favor a $105,000,000 bond issue for improvement of highways and bridges statewide and for multimodal facilities or equipment related to transit, freight and passenger railroads, aviation, ports, harbors, marine transportation and active transportation projects, to be used to match an estimated $275,000,000 in federal and other funds?

Commentary: A vote for universal broadband in Maine is a vote for equitable education

 

In a special column to the Portland Press Herald, Leigh Peake, chief education officer for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, noted that lack of equitable broadband service is widening the gap between children of privilege and children in Maine's vulnerable and underserved communities - but we all have an opportunity to address this unjust trend.

A yes on Question 1 is a vote for rural Maine

 

In his recent op-ed to the Bangor Daily News, Kyle Leathers, vice chairman of the East Millinocket Board of Selectmen and a social studies teacher at Stearns Jr./Sr. High School in Millinocket, noted that broadband is a driving force for any economy in the 21st century. Considering that a growing workforce sector in East Millinocket is employees who work from home, and all of these jobs, from medical transcriptionist to call center worker, require high-speed broadband.

Our View: A vote for Question 1 is a vote for the future of rural Maine

 

In an editorial by the Portland Press Herald's Editorial Board yesterday, it was noted that the lack of high-speed internet is leaving parts of the state behind: "The internet is integrated into everything we do. It's no longer something you log onto here and there, but a constant feature - a portal through which nearly every part of our lives is organized and operated."

 

Thursday, July 9 | The Bottom Line Podcast

with Mark McInerney of the Center for Workforce Research and Information

Mark McInerney, director of the Center for Workforce Research and Information (CWRI) at the Maine Department of Labor, will be this week's special guest on The Bottom Line podcast. He joins The Bottom Line co-hosts Dana Connors of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and John Williams of Williams Broadcasting to discuss the work of the CWRI during the COVID-19 pandemic as it provides state and area labor market information to employers, job seekers, and others.

 

To listen live, please visit Williams Broadcasting and scroll down to "Listen Online" at the bottom of the homepage. To listen to the archived recordings, please visit The Bottom Line page on the Maine State Chamber's website. In addition, The Bottom Line podcast can be heard on iTunes, iHeart Radio, Soundcloud, Stitcher Radio, Spotify and radio.com.

 

Don't Miss the Final Legislative Summary 2020!

The outbreak of the pandemic sent many parts of "normal" life into a tailspin. The legislative session was no exception. Now that the dust is settling a bit, our team has assembled our annual Legislative Final Summary. We are pleased to present it to you here. The Final Summary represents months of work by our team. Inside, you will find legislation that made its way through the process and legislation whose progress was cut short by the pandemic.

 

We share your anxiety in coping with all the unknowns in our personal and professional lives. However, the Maine State Chamber is open for business. Whether we are working from the office or remotely, we are here to help you face the challenges ahead. Our team is up to the task and remains committed to being the "Voice of Maine Business" in Augusta, now more than ever.

 

Understanding Communications:
Messages That Connect
During Covid Times

 

Tuesday, July 14, 2020
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

 

Register here

In this webinar, we will discuss how messages and marketing need to change in order to successfully connect with target audiences. We'll look at how brain chemistry influences decision making and simple but effective ways to communicate.

 

Hosted by: Maine State Chamber of Commerce | Presented by: Paula Mahony, President & Chief Strategist, Words@Work

 

Additional webinars will be forthcoming, and sponsorship opportunities are available. Registration or general questions can be directed to Angela Arno, director of programs and events for the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, by emailing aarno@mainechamber.org or calling (207) 623-4568, ext. 104.

 

To advertise in the COVID-19 Impact, please contact Melody Rousseau
by emailing
melodyr@mainechamber.org, or by calling (207) 623-4568, ext. 102.

Thank you for doing your part!

 

 

 

TO UNSUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE.

NOTICE: In an ongoing effort to thwart the activities of online hackers, the Maine State Chamber
has researched and tested the links in this document and determined that they are safe.

 

Copyright Maine State Chamber of Commerce. All rights reserved.
 128 State Street | Suite 101 | Augusta, ME 04330-5630
 Phone: (207) 623-4568
For media inquiries, please contact Jen Webber, (207) 939-0213
For membership inquiries, please contact Mark Ellis. (207) 623-4568
  • About Us
    • Connect with Us
    • Affiliates & Partners
    • Our Board
    • Meet the Team
    • President's Message
    • External Social Media Policy
  • Membership
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Join the Chamber
    • Return on Investment
    • Member Search
  • Public Policy
    • Public Hearings of Interest
    • Legislation of Interest
    • Public Policy Committees
    • Grassroot Resources
    • Find Your Legislator >
      • Representatives
      • Senators
  • Events
    • Calendar of Events
    • 2022 Annual Meeting
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Business Day at the Statehouse
    • Board Meetings & Board Events
    • DC Fly-In
    • Legislative Social
    • Policy Issues Workshops
    • Regional Breakfasts
    • Scramble for Scholars
    • Webinars by The Maine State Chamber of Commerce
  • Initiatives
    • Campus Career Connect
    • Dream It. Do It.
    • Education Foundation
    • Keep Maine Competitive
    • Maine Economic Research Institute (MERI)
    • This is ME Counting on You
    • Senior Leaders of Tomorrow Development Program
  • Newsroom
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Impact Newsletter
    • MSCC Blog
    • The Bottom Line
    • The Maine Take
    • Making Maine Work
    • MERI Roll Call
    • OneVoice Maine Magazine
    • Policy Brief Series with Educate Maine
    • Press Kit
  • Member Login