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“safer at home” order

BOulder County Safer at home education session

SAFER AT HOME COVID-19 Response Phase

Summary of Guidance 

 Boulder County is moving to the Safer at Home phase which is in effect through May 26. While at this level, Coloradans are strongly advised to continue staying at home to the greatest extent possible. This new level also includes some changes for commerce. 

 This document is a summary of the guidance and requirements as outlined by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Public Health Order. Please visit https://covid19.colorado.gov/safer-at-home for full details as well as https://boco.org/COVID19Business for additional guidance and resources.

 Requirements to Reduce Spread of Disease

  • Stay at home as much as possible, only interacting with household contacts and only leaving for essential activities

  • At-risk individuals should continue to stay home unless absolutely necessary

  • Face coverings are required in public when six feet distance from others cannot be maintained

  • No gatherings of more than 10 people are permitted

 Businesses that May Open

  • Non-critical retail such as clothing, home goods, cell phone (with 50% employees and 6-foot social distancing)

  • Personal services such as hair/nail salon, tattoo, pet groomer and personal trainers (with 10 or fewer people in a single location or a maximum of 50% occupancy, whichever is less; by appointment only, no walk-ins; strict requirements about PPE and distancing)

  • Non-critical offices (with 50% employees)

  • Field services such as in-person real-estate showings

  • Limited healthcare (with 10 or fewer people in a single location or a maximum of 50% occupancy, whichever is less; by appointment only, no walk-ins)

  • Post-secondary education

 Businesses that Must Remain Closed

  • Sit-down service in restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, and other places of public accommodation

  • Movie theaters

  • Live-performance theaters

  • Concert venues

  • Sports arenas

  • Gyms and yoga and fitness studios

  • Shopping malls (except for stores that have public entrances/exits to the outside)

  • Outdoor facilities such as children’s playgrounds, swimming pools, and tennis and basketball courts

  • Recreation centers and libraries

 

 Requirements for Workplaces

  • Deputize workplace coordinator(s) charged with addressing COVID-19 issues

  • Maintain 6-foot distancing when possible, and discourage shared spaces

  • Frequently sanitize all high-touch areas. See additional guidance.

  • Post signage for employees and customers on good hygiene. See additional resources.

  • Ensure proper ventilation. See OSHA guidance.

    • Higher than normal ventilation levels are encouraged

  • Avoid gatherings (meetings, waiting rooms, etc.) of more than 10 people

  • Implement symptom monitoring protocols (including workplace temperature monitoring and symptom screening questions) where possible. See additional guidance.

  • Eliminate or regularly sanitize any items in common spaces (i.e., break rooms) that are shared between individuals (i.e., condiments, coffee makers, vending machines). See additional guidance.

  • Provide appropriate protective gear like gloves, masks, and face coverings and encourage appropriate use. See additional guidance.

 Requirements for Employees

  • Require employees with symptoms to stay home

  • Accommodate employees who are vulnerable individuals

  • Provide flexible options for employees with child or elder-care obligations

 Requirements to Keep Customers Safe

  • Create special hours for people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19

  • Encourage and facilitate 6-foot distancing inside of the business for all patrons

  • Encourage use of protection like gloves, masks, and face coverings

  • Provide hand sanitizer at entrance

  • Install shields or barriers where possible between customers and employees

  • Use contactless payment solutions, no touch trash cans, etc. whenever possible

  • Additional guidance to keep employees and customers safe

  • Post signage about health protocols

 Requirements for Organizations with more than 50 Employees at a Single Location

  • Create signage about health protocols

  • Implement symptom monitoring protocols such as temperature checks

  • Close common areas to mitigate employee gatherings

  • Conduct mandatory cleaning and disinfecting protocols

  • Implement social distance protocols

 Please visit https://covid19.colorado.gov/safer-at-home for full details and additional requirements by business sector as well as https://boco.org/COVID19Business for additional guidance and resources.

 Checklists
The following checklists were created by Boulder County Public Health in partnership with the local business community and include the requirements as described by the Colorado Safer at Home Order.

 Boulder County Public Health COVID-19 Information

Resources for individuals, families and businesses impacted by COVID-19

Questions or issues related to COVID-19 in Boulder County?  720-776-0822

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HEALTH INFORMATION

UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

  • The website for unemployment insurance has been overwhelmed by the high volume of claims. Applicants are being advised to try the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment website early morning or late at night when the load is lower. Know that a patch is being implemented on the website to allow it to deal with more simultaneous transactions. State workforce is being shifted to the UI call center are being lent to the agencies to deal with the higher volume.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance

  • Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is a program established by the CARES Act that temporarily expands unemployment insurance eligibility to self-employed workers, freelancers, independent contractors, and part-time workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Colorado’s film and creative communities have experienced reduced hours, wages or lost work altogether as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to these unique circumstances, some of the requirements for filing and receiving unemployment have changed and benefits traditionally unavailable for gig and self-employed workers are now accessible.

    The PUA program is made up of three elements:

    1. Benefits for individuals traditionally not eligible for unemployment benefits

    2. Individuals who have exhausted traditional unemployment benefits

    3. Individuals who cannot telework and are unable to work due to shelter-in-place measures

    Available Funding Overview

    1. Funding is available retroactively dating back to the first week of February through the end of 2020

    2. An additional $600 per week is available for claims dating between March 29th and July 31st regardless of the amount of your underlying benefit

    3. Traditional unemployment covers 27 weeks of benefits 4. The PUA program tacks on an additional 12 weeks of benefits (39 weeks total).

SBA

ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOAN (EIDL) & Payment Protection Program (PPP)

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  • SBA ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOAN & EMERGENCY GRANT

    Overview

    The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act temporarily expands eligibility for SBA economic injury disaster loans (EIDL) and provides an emergency advance of up to $10,000 to small businesses and private non-profits harmed by COVID-19 within 3 days of applying for an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). To access the advance, you first apply for an EIDL and then request the advance. The advance does not need to be repaid under any circumstance, and may be used to keep employees on payroll, to pay for sick leave, meet increased production costs due to supply chain disruptions, or pay business obligations, including debts, rent, and mortgage payments. 

    Eligibility

    In addition to the entities that are already eligible for SBA disaster loans (small businesses, private non-profits, and small agriculture cooperatives), eligibility is temporarily expanded to include:

    • Business entities with 500 or fewer employees:

    • Sole proprietorships, with or without employees

    • Independent contractors

    • Cooperatives and employee owned businesses

    • Tribal small businesses

    • Private non-profits of any size.

    Additionally, you must have been in business as of January 31, 2020. Expanded eligibility criteria and the emergency grants are only available between January 31, 2020 and December 31, 2020.

    How to Apply

    • You can apply for an EIDL online with the SBA.

    • When you apply, you can request an emergency grant of $10,000.

    • The SBA will provide the grant within 3 days of receiving your application.

    • You will not have to repay the grant, even if your application for a loan is denied.

    • You can visit an SBA resource partner who can help guide you through the loan application process. You can find your nearest Small Business Development Center (SBDC) or Women’s Business Center here.


    Can I apply for other SBA loan programs?

    If you apply for an EIDL and the grant, you can still apply for a Paycheck Protection loan. However the amount forgiven under a Paycheck Protection loan will be decreased by the $10,000 grant. 

    More Information

    For more information about SBA loan programs, please visit the  Small Business Administration . More information about small business programs in the CARES Act can be found on the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship  website .

    If you need additional assistance, please reach out to the Boulder Small Business Development Center

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TAX INFORMATION

  • Federal Taxes

    Businesses will be allowed to delay their federal tax filings and bills for 90 days (July 15) as part of an emergency relief plan in response to COVID-19.

    The Treasury and IRS announced the deferment of federal tax payments, interest free and penalty free, for 90 days, until July 15. This deferment also applies to tax year 2020 estimated tax payments previously due on April,15, 2020. Corporations can defer up to $10 million in federal payments.

    As always anyone having difficulty filing on time can request a 6-month extension. Visit the IRS website for more details.

    The Families First Coronavirus Response First Act provides relief in the form of refundable tax credits for sick leave and family leave for both eligible self-employed and small business owners.

    • Self-Employed Tax Credit for Sick Leave. If you are self-employed, you may be eligible for a refundable tax credit equivalent to a qualified sick leave amount. Qualified sick leave is based on your average daily self-employment income.

    • Self-Employed Tax Credit for Family Leave. If you are self-employed you may be eligible for a refundable tax credit equal to 100 percent of a qualified family leave equivalent amount for eligible self-employed individuals.

    • Small Business Tax Credit for Paid Sick Leave. If you are a small business owner and paid sick leave wages to your employees you may be eligible for a refundable tax credit equal to 100 percent of qualified sick leave paid.

    • Small Business Tax Credit for Paid Family Leave. If you are a small business owner and paid qualified family leave wages to employees, you may be eligible for a refundable tax credit equal to 100 percent of qualified family leave wages paid.

    State Taxes

    The income tax payment deadline has been extended for all Colorado taxpayers by 90 days until July 15, 2020. All income tax returns that were required to be filed by April 15, 2020 are granted a six-month extension, and are due on or before October 15, 2020. Click here for more information.

    The state will grant an extension for taxpayers who are required to make estimated income tax payments for the 2020 tax year. The Governor is also directing the Department of Revenue (DOR) to coordinate with local governments that choose to extend tax payment deadlines for property, sales and use taxes. To read the executive order, click here.

    County Taxes

    There is no extension of property tax deadlines. Boulder County does not have the legal authority to offer an extension. Instead, by an Executive Order issued last Friday, the Governor has given flexibility on delinquent interest.

    With Executive Order D 2020 012, Governor Polis authorized the County Treasurers to suspend or waive delinquent interest that may accrue as a result of delinquent tax payments for 30 days. By law, the Governor must limit the executive order for 30 days to allow the Legislature to take action. Should the Legislature not act within that time period, and the situation that brought on the need for the Executive Order still exists, the Governor can choose to extend those provisions.

    There is no guarantee that we will be able to waive interest for the full payment deadline on April 30th. Click here for more information.

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BOULDER COUNTY SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER

The Boulder SBDC is available to answer your questions and concerns about the impacts of COVID-19 and the resources that may be able to help – including SBA low-interest loans and others. In an effort to help reduce the rate of COVID-19 transmission and in order to protect you and our staff and partners, we will be working remotely. We will email or call to respond to your request for assistance, conduct consulting meetings via phone and online (by appointment, as always) and hold workshops and special programming online. 

Here are the steps we are currently taking:

1) One-on-one consulting will be done by phone.

All of our free one-on-on consulting sessions will be conducted over the phone. You can set up these consulting sessions by filling out a Request for Consulting form on our website.

Some of our consultants may have the ability to do online/video consulting. This decision will be up to the SBDC consultant, but the standard process will be phone conference. Due to increased requests for assistance, our staff won’t be able to help with video-conferencing connections, so if you are not proficient in this area, please utilize the phone consult.

2) Workshops and programs will be presented online – no in-person attendees.

We will continue to offer workshops and other programs, but our presenters will remotely present the class to attendees. Attendees will need internet access to view the programs, and can ask questions/participate digitally. We are currently in the process of updating our selection of online courses, so watch for more information here. We recommend registering for our FREE 3-part online series, "Keeping Your Business Together In a Crisis," which starts March 25.

3) The SBDC has strategic partners at the local, state and federal levels – especially at SBA. We will communicate useful information about resources for small businesses as soon as we get it, and will provide support to help you get answers, whenever possible.  

Small Business Administration (SBA) EIDL loans

Federal officials have announced plans for low-interest business loans to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 virus – Economic Injury Disaster Loans. This program will be managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), a federal agency. As of today (March 17), we are working with the SBA and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) to unlock those loans for businesses in Colorado. We will advise as soon as that happens and you are able to apply.  

We do not have specific guidance yet from SBA detailing the application process. However, from our experience with past disasters that impacted Colorado, these were documents that were needed (and helpful) for EIDL applications in the past. So if you want to get ready in advance to apply for a loan (or any other funding that may be available), these are key financial documents to gather, so you can be as prepared as possible:

  • Last three years of federal tax returns for your business

  • Last three years of personal federal tax returns

  • A Personal Financial Statement

  • Articles of Incorporation

  • A business plan with financial projections might be helpful, but may not be required

In addition, it may be helpful to have 1 – 3 years of your business financial statements (balance sheet and profit & loss statements). While these may not be required for the application, they may help you make the case for your business’ economic injury.

We are here to support our local businesses and entrepreneurs across Colorado during these very challenging times. We will do our best to communicate useful business resources and provide support to mitigate the impacts of this health situation.

Lastly, your health and safety is paramount, and we encourage you to read and follow best-practices from the CDC, WHO and CDPHE.

For more information and links to resources available, please visit our website. If you have any questions, please contact us.

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helpful webinars

THE BEST WEBINARS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PANDEMIC

Of the many webinars and meetings that in the past several weeks, there are two series that we would like to recommend. Archives are available via the links.

  • Boulder SBDC's Keeping Your Business Together in a Crisis series has been an excellent source of up-to-date and relevant information. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see past webinars and register for the next.

  • U.S. Chamber's Path Forward series has provided great insights into the path to recovery from several interesting perspectives.

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