GNO, INC Update – 4/30/2020

Regional Stakeholders,

During a crisis, timely, accurate, and actionable information is important.  In order to help you get this information, GNO, Inc. is sending out regular updates.  Please see below, and feel free to forward.

April 30, 2020 Update

News

• Main Street Lending Program Information Released – The Federal Reserve has released more information on the Main Street Lending Program., which is designed to provide businesses with loans from banks at below-market interest rates.  Businesses with fewer than 15,000 employees or 2019 revenues less than $5 billion are eligible.  Loans can range from $500,000 to $25 million.  You can find more information, as well as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) by clicking here.  You can find GNO, Inc.’s one-pager here.

A start date has not been announced, and the Federal Reserve is working on the infrastructure necessary to launch the Program.  Once the Program is operational, businesses will be able to apply through eligible lenders.

• Legislature Announces Lawmakers Will Return Monday – Senate President Page Cortez and House Speaker Clay Schexnayderannounced that they will reconvene both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature at the State Capitol on Monday, bringing lawmakers back to work after more than a month-long pause due to the COVID-19 crisis. New safety measures, such as plexiglass barriers and social distancing, will be in place and both presiding officers said that they expect their members to take up a full slate of bills.
• State Fire Marshal’s Guidelines for Restaurant Patios – The Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal released guidelines for restaurants to operate their outdoor patio space in response to Governor Edward’s recently announced stay at home order that allows restaurants to open their outdoor seating to customers, as long as table side service is not provided.  The guidelines include:  reducing outdoor capacity to 25% of that allowed by the Fire Marshal; tables spaced at least 10 feet apart; and other directives.  Outdoor patio seating is still prohibited in Orleans Parish.  You can view the full list of guidelines click here.

Information

•  “Getting Back to Work, in the New Normal:  Best Practices for Business Reopening” – This week, GNO, Inc. released a plan for restarting the Greater New Orleans economy, and reopening businesses with a responsible and safety-first approach.  The plan provides robust industry-specific recommendations and a framework to safely restart the region’s economy, as well as opportunities for the future.  This plan was developed in partnership with many stakeholders, ranging from regional companies, to industry associations, to national consultancies, to global country examples. You can read the full plan here.
•  GNO, Inc. Webinar:  Help for the Music Industry – Today, GNO, Inc. hosted an informational webinar that included an in-depth discussion about local and national relief opportunities for companies, businesses, and workers in the music industry.  You can watch the webinar here.

Resources

Are you looking for:

• Online Training? – A catalogue of opportunities for online training from the region’s higher education partners and private training providers can be found here.
• Work? – If you want a job in a sector that is surging right now, new openings are on WorkNOLA.com.
• Employees?
• A database of local talent looking for new job opportunities, including quick employment history and skills summary, is on the WorkNOLA Workforce Directory.
• GNOmatch provides custom connections between companies with lay-offs, and those hiring for transferable skills.
• COVID-19 Customers/Purchasers? – If you have pivoted your business to make a new, coronavirus-related product, register onGNOpivot.
• COVID-19 Supplies/Services? – If you are looking for PPE, sanitizer, food providers, and other related products and services, search the GNOpivot Resource Tool.

As always, general information is on the GNO, Inc. Coronavirus Business Resource Page.

Please feel free to contact me [email protected] or VP Policy Ileana Ledet at [email protected] with any questions or suggestions.

Take care,

Michael

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