CORONAVIRUS & YOUR BUSINESS
A constantly evolving strategy to slow the spread of Coronavirus via social distance ramped up dramatically on March 17, as the County of Marin joined six other Bay Area counties and the City of Berkeley to issue a legal order directing their respective residents to shelter at home for three weeks beginning March 17. The order limits activity, travel and business functions to only the most essential needs.
The order defines essential activities as necessary for the health and safety for individuals and their families. Essential businesses allowed to operate during the recommended action include health care operations; businesses that provide food, shelter, and social services, and other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged or otherwise needy individuals; fresh and non-perishable food retailers (including convenience stores); pharmacies; child care facilities; gas stations; banks; laundry businesses and services necessary for maintaining the safety, sanitation and essential operation of a residence. In addition, health care, law and safety, and essential government functions will continue under the recommended action. It also includes restaurants but only for take-out and delivery service.
If you have questions about how your business is affected by this order, email us and we'll help you. If you are a business that is allowed to remain open as an Essential Business, be sure that you are listed on our constantly updated, comprehensive list of businesses, and let us know if there are additional details about the type of services your business is offering to comply with the order, as well as any changes to your business hours etc.
The order defines essential activities as necessary for the health and safety for individuals and their families. Essential businesses allowed to operate during the recommended action include health care operations; businesses that provide food, shelter, and social services, and other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged or otherwise needy individuals; fresh and non-perishable food retailers (including convenience stores); pharmacies; child care facilities; gas stations; banks; laundry businesses and services necessary for maintaining the safety, sanitation and essential operation of a residence. In addition, health care, law and safety, and essential government functions will continue under the recommended action. It also includes restaurants but only for take-out and delivery service.
If you have questions about how your business is affected by this order, email us and we'll help you. If you are a business that is allowed to remain open as an Essential Business, be sure that you are listed on our constantly updated, comprehensive list of businesses, and let us know if there are additional details about the type of services your business is offering to comply with the order, as well as any changes to your business hours etc.
Emergency Preparedness
Mill Valley is a wonderful place to live and visit, with its stunning vistas and tree-studded canyons backing up to acres of parklands. It can also be a place where being prepared, particularly for residents and visitors, is as important as enjoying the natural beauty.
The City of Mill Valley provides helpful emergency preparedness information for residents and visitors, including what to do in case of an earthquake, fire or flood. It also offers free emergency preparedness classes for Mill Valley residents. The City's Emergency Preparedness Commission advocates the need for ongoing emergency preparedness and helps identify, organize and liaison with neighborhoods, businesses, and schools. They assist with educating residents on ways to be self-sufficient in a disaster and encourage CERT training. Meetings are the second Thursday of every month at City Hall.
Whether your are here for a day or a lifetime, following are some quick safety tips to help you enjoy your stay:
The City of Mill Valley provides helpful emergency preparedness information for residents and visitors, including what to do in case of an earthquake, fire or flood. It also offers free emergency preparedness classes for Mill Valley residents. The City's Emergency Preparedness Commission advocates the need for ongoing emergency preparedness and helps identify, organize and liaison with neighborhoods, businesses, and schools. They assist with educating residents on ways to be self-sufficient in a disaster and encourage CERT training. Meetings are the second Thursday of every month at City Hall.
Whether your are here for a day or a lifetime, following are some quick safety tips to help you enjoy your stay:
- If you are hiking or bicycling, carry a cell phone and map of the area.
- For residents, discuss what you and your family would do during and immediately after a major disaster.
- Prepare a mini survival kit for your home and vehicle.
- Know the best things to do and not to do in case of an earthquake.
- If you live, work or go to school in Marin County and are 18 and over, you may now register your cell phone or VoIP (voice over internet protocol) phone with the Telephone Emergency Notification System to receive emergency alerts by call, text, or email from the County of Marin. Here is how to register.
Ready Businesses
The Marin Business Emergency Readiness Program was developed to help Marin County businesses thoughtfully prepare for, respond to and quickly recover from major emergencies and local disasters.
The program is straightforward. It uses a business emergency/disaster readiness Score Card to help you evaluate your business’s preparedness to deal with emergencies and to help identify additional steps to improve that readiness. MBER provides a template to help you assemble an Emergency Plan in an easily updatable format, which you can build over time at your own pace. The template is linked to Help Screens providing explanations of key concepts and helpful tips.
By utilizing this scoring system, you will know where you stand and how you are progressing. In many parts of Marin (see list of participating jurisdictions below), you will have access to a Local MBER Coordinator to answer any questions, to review your documentation and to certify your level of readiness.
Why Should Your Business Participate?
Emergencies and disasters can occur at any time, often without warning and can have devastating effects on a community, including its businesses. Local businesses remaining open are crucial to the ability of that community to recover from a disaster. Although reports vary, many officials, including those from FEMA, Red Cross and Small Business Administration have observed that as many as 25-40% of businesses without an Emergency Plan never reopen following a disaster. Business owners invest large amounts of time and financial resources to make their business successful, so taking the steps to protect that investment is only natural. Having an Emergency Plan and being able to put it into immediate action can mean the difference between staying open to meet the needs of your customers and community or shutting down for days or longer.
Small businesses are seen as particularly vulnerable to business interruption, as many smaller companies don’t have the financial buffer or resources to survive a prolonged closure. Another reason to stay open, which is not often stated but implied, is the social and moral obligation to protecting your employees, customers, suppliers and community.
The benefits of the program are increased safety for your customers and employees, protection of your business investment, long-term resilience of your business and the security of knowing that you are well prepared. Your employees should also be trained in the discipline of disaster preparedness for themselves and their families.
As a tangible measure of your diligence to protect your customers, employees and business investment, the program offers Readiness Certificates at various levels which you can display in your place of business, on your letterhead/website or on your advertisements. They are awarded at the following levels:
The program is straightforward. It uses a business emergency/disaster readiness Score Card to help you evaluate your business’s preparedness to deal with emergencies and to help identify additional steps to improve that readiness. MBER provides a template to help you assemble an Emergency Plan in an easily updatable format, which you can build over time at your own pace. The template is linked to Help Screens providing explanations of key concepts and helpful tips.
By utilizing this scoring system, you will know where you stand and how you are progressing. In many parts of Marin (see list of participating jurisdictions below), you will have access to a Local MBER Coordinator to answer any questions, to review your documentation and to certify your level of readiness.
Why Should Your Business Participate?
Emergencies and disasters can occur at any time, often without warning and can have devastating effects on a community, including its businesses. Local businesses remaining open are crucial to the ability of that community to recover from a disaster. Although reports vary, many officials, including those from FEMA, Red Cross and Small Business Administration have observed that as many as 25-40% of businesses without an Emergency Plan never reopen following a disaster. Business owners invest large amounts of time and financial resources to make their business successful, so taking the steps to protect that investment is only natural. Having an Emergency Plan and being able to put it into immediate action can mean the difference between staying open to meet the needs of your customers and community or shutting down for days or longer.
Small businesses are seen as particularly vulnerable to business interruption, as many smaller companies don’t have the financial buffer or resources to survive a prolonged closure. Another reason to stay open, which is not often stated but implied, is the social and moral obligation to protecting your employees, customers, suppliers and community.
The benefits of the program are increased safety for your customers and employees, protection of your business investment, long-term resilience of your business and the security of knowing that you are well prepared. Your employees should also be trained in the discipline of disaster preparedness for themselves and their families.
As a tangible measure of your diligence to protect your customers, employees and business investment, the program offers Readiness Certificates at various levels which you can display in your place of business, on your letterhead/website or on your advertisements. They are awarded at the following levels:
|
Min Certified Score (out of 100)
20 points 40 points 60 points 80 points |
Readiness Level
Bronze Silver Gold Platinum |
Please note that readiness certificates are awarded on varying schedules by the local jurisdictions.
Which Local Jurisdictions Are Participating?
This program is available to all local government jurisdictions responsible for disaster preparedness in the County of Marin and its 11 cities. However not all have appointed and trained be Local MBER Coordinators to support businesses in their geographical area. As of the most recent update, the following local government jurisdictions are participating members:
Mill Valley Fire Department
Geographic Area: Within Mill Valley city limits
Local MBER Coordinator: Fire Chief Tom Welch
Contact: 415 389-4142 or twelch@cityofmillvalley.org
How Does Your Business Participate?The process typically works for you as follows:
If you have any questions, please contact the Local MBER Coordinator in your jurisdiction.
Resources
Which Local Jurisdictions Are Participating?
This program is available to all local government jurisdictions responsible for disaster preparedness in the County of Marin and its 11 cities. However not all have appointed and trained be Local MBER Coordinators to support businesses in their geographical area. As of the most recent update, the following local government jurisdictions are participating members:
Mill Valley Fire Department
Geographic Area: Within Mill Valley city limits
Local MBER Coordinator: Fire Chief Tom Welch
Contact: 415 389-4142 or twelch@cityofmillvalley.org
How Does Your Business Participate?The process typically works for you as follows:
- Get Organized: Appoint an Emergency Coordinator and an Alternate to lead this effort for your business. Download to your business’s computer an M′BER Emergency Plan Template and an MBER Score Card from the Resources section below. Replace “my-business-name” in the file name with your business’s name.
- Assess Where You Stand: Complete an initial readiness evaluation using the MBER Score Card to give your business credit for everything you have done in the past to prepare for disasters and identify areas for improvement. You can refer to the MBER Emergency Plan Template if you are not sure what is being asked for in a M′BER Score Card requirement (the documents use identical numbering schemes so Template section B4 contains the information requested in MBER Score Card requirement B4). Each Template section also has a help button (a hyperlink to the Help page) with more detailed explanations of the rationale and helpful suggestions for each requirement. As you progress, enter the requested information into the MBER Emergency Plan Template for each of the 28 requirements on which you scored any points. When you have completed the MBER Score Card, save a copy of this document as this is your baseline or starting point.
- Build Your Emergency Plan: The goal is to have an Emergency Plan to use as a reference & training tool for you & your staff. This is the Plan that will guide your staff in their response to an emergency event, even if you are not present. The Scorecard is a good first step, as it will guide you to which requirements to work on next. The Points Remaining highlighted in red in the far right column will suggest the areas with the highest potential for improvement, while you can assess the incremental effort to make each improvement. As you complete each requirement, record any new information in the Emergency Plan Template in the appropriate sections and update your M′BER Score Card. Repeat this step until the plan is complete.
- Verify Your Progress: When you reach a new readiness level (shown on the Score Card cell E4) or at a natural break point, you can forward everything to your Local MBER Coordinator for review. With each new update, assign a new version number and effective date to your Emergency Plan and the MBER Score Card (See Versions and Archiving). Update section A8 and archive copies of both documents with the version number on your business computer. Then email the Emergency Plan Template and MBER Score Card to your Local MBER Coordinator. The coordinator will review and suggest revisions, if necessary, and provide an appropriate Certificate of Readiness (this process may vary by jurisdiction).
- Distribute the Emergency Plan: Whenever you have substantially revised your Emergency Plan (or periodically every 6 months), you should post the Plan in a central location on site, accessible to your staff, as well as distributing it to key stakeholders (e.g., all staff with emergency roles, key vendors, insurance agent, etc.) inside and outside your company who should get a copy (anyone who is involved in any way). Assign a new version number and effective date to your Emergency Plan Template (in the header) and the MBER Score Card. (See Versions and Archiving). Update section A7 and archive copies of the Plan with the version number on your business computer. Then email or mail copies of the Emergency Plan (You may want to delete unfinished sections first). You do not need to send everyone the Score Card.
If you have any questions, please contact the Local MBER Coordinator in your jurisdiction.
Resources
- My-business-name Emergency Plan v0.1 (Word doc)
- My-business-name Score Card v0.1 (Excel doc)
- M′BER Reference Sheet – Contact your local Jurisdiction for copies with your local emergency phone numbers
Know What's Below – Call 811 Before You Dig
We're getting closer to August 11 (8/11 on the calendar) of each year serves as a good reminder to everyone to call 811 a few days before digging to identify the approximate location of underground utility lines.
Every six minutes an underground utility line is damaged because someone decided to dig without first calling 811, and we at Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce do not want anyone to become part of the statistic.
Utility services that your family depends on, such as cable TV, high-speed Internet, landline telephone, electric, gas, water and sewer, are buried underground in many communities. Striking one of these lines can result in inconvenient outages for entire neighborhoods, harm to yourself or someone else, and repair costs.
When you call 811 a few days before you plan to start your project, a local one-call center representative will collect your information and notify the affected local utility companies of your intent to dig. A professional locator will then visit the dig site to mark the approximate location of all underground utility lines with paint, flags or both. Once your site has been marked, it is safe to begin digging around the marked areas.
No matter the type of project – installing a mailbox, putting in a fence, planting trees or shrubbery, building a patio or deck, or excavating a new garden area – make sure to call 811 several days prior to digging to have your site properly marked, and remind our customers, as well as your friends and family, to do the same. Always call 811 before you dig and know what’s below.
Every six minutes an underground utility line is damaged because someone decided to dig without first calling 811, and we at Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce do not want anyone to become part of the statistic.
Utility services that your family depends on, such as cable TV, high-speed Internet, landline telephone, electric, gas, water and sewer, are buried underground in many communities. Striking one of these lines can result in inconvenient outages for entire neighborhoods, harm to yourself or someone else, and repair costs.
When you call 811 a few days before you plan to start your project, a local one-call center representative will collect your information and notify the affected local utility companies of your intent to dig. A professional locator will then visit the dig site to mark the approximate location of all underground utility lines with paint, flags or both. Once your site has been marked, it is safe to begin digging around the marked areas.
No matter the type of project – installing a mailbox, putting in a fence, planting trees or shrubbery, building a patio or deck, or excavating a new garden area – make sure to call 811 several days prior to digging to have your site properly marked, and remind our customers, as well as your friends and family, to do the same. Always call 811 before you dig and know what’s below.
Free Get Ready Class for Mill Valley Businesses
Get Ready Marin regularly hosts free Get Ready class specifically for Mill Valley business managers and staff. The class teaches business managers and staff how to keep your business open during an emergency as a way to assist the community.
In case of an earthquake, public safety officials recommend having enough food and water to last up to 7 days. If we have a catastrophic fire, you may need to evacuate in 10 minutes or less. Get Ready is a free 1½ hour class sponsored by the Mill Valley Fire Department that teaches you how to prepare your home and family for all types of emergencies.
If you’re interested in attending the next class – we'll announce the details in the coming weeks – please register by emailing Maggie Lang at maggielang101@gmail.com or call 415-279-6529.
In case of an earthquake, public safety officials recommend having enough food and water to last up to 7 days. If we have a catastrophic fire, you may need to evacuate in 10 minutes or less. Get Ready is a free 1½ hour class sponsored by the Mill Valley Fire Department that teaches you how to prepare your home and family for all types of emergencies.
If you’re interested in attending the next class – we'll announce the details in the coming weeks – please register by emailing Maggie Lang at maggielang101@gmail.com or call 415-279-6529.