On Monday, November 9th at 5:00 PM, Jefferson County will be moved to Level Orange, formerly Level 3, in the Dial Framework. We understand that this change, and any subsequent restrictions, will have a drastic impact on how your business operates. We are committed to advocating on your behalf at all opportunities to influence guidance to better support your business and safely allow further capacity. The Arvada Chamber is also continuing to track policy decisions and changes that have positive and negative impacts on our members.
We will work closely with public health departments to understand and communicate guidance so you can continue to make the right decisions for your business and employees. Regular policy resources are being added to our Business Toolkit. View the Colorado County COVID-19 Dial Dashboard, which tracks the progress of each county using key metrics.
In order to help you navigate these new challenges in business capacity and help keep the community safe, here are 7 tips to transition your business to Level Orange.
1. Consider how you can change the delivery of your services
New business capacity limits restaurants, places of worship, non-critical manufacturing, offices, retail and gyms to 25% capacity. Are you able to offer your goods and services via delivery, takeout, or curbside pickup? Can you maximize your capacity by extending your business to a patio or sidewalk? The City of Arvada and Adams County are offering winterization operations mini-grants. If you have any concerns with your options for maximizing capacity, please contact us and we will work to resolve the issue.
2. Communicate to your staff
Communicate all changes to hours and operations internally to your team. Document a policy and strategy for positive case results with employees and customers. Then, create contingency plans for handling staff absences, including any actions taken to sanitize and prepare the workspace.
Employers and employees: visit our COVID-19 At Your Business Toolkit for testing locations, return-to-work guidance, and communication samples to use in the event of a reported case at your place of business. Obviously, most businesses will resort to remote working. This means that employees will be working from their homes, instead of the office. As a result, many business have taken on more staff, especially in their IT departments to help manage the technical difficulties of remote working. Hiring new staff during this period can be very difficult so carrying out basic health screenings, such as the drug screening tests found at https://www.health-street.net/location/springfield-mo-drug-testing/
, can help business owners hire the right people.
Remote working can become isolating at times, so it’s important that businesses try and improve communication. Perhaps they could consider using unified communications to make sure all employees have the ability to communicate with whoever they need to. That would help some employees to feel less lonely. Companies can also make use of OKR Software, a collaborative goal-setting tool that can help achieve ambitious goals. It is possible that working from home also presents many challenges that may result in lower work performance. It is important that employers remain on top of this and do everything they can to support their employees through the transition so that the business can continue to operate as normal. Software like OKR can track progress and encourage engagement for measurable goals. Businesses need to be unified through these challenging times, so it might be worth visiting this website to learn more. Some employers may want to think about adding an additional performance review to help them monitor the levels of work being produced as well as receive feedback for what they can do to improve.
3. Communicate to your customers
If your hours, offerings or capacity changes, use multiple channels to ensure your message is widely received and reinforced. Update your website, Google Profile, blog, email lists, social media channels and other platforms to deliver a consistent message about your business plans. The US Chamber of Commerce Foundation designed this easy-to-use, customizable workplace flyer to help inform your customers of the steps you are taking. Jefferson County also has a communications toolkit with social media and print graphics you can download and use.
Be sure to also communicate how the community can best support you immediately. Encourage your customers to get offerings to go, shop now for the holidays, visit in person at less busy times, and exercise patience with new restrictions. If you have questions or need support, please contact ryan@arvadachamber.org.
4. Make sure you have updated listings on the Arvada Resiliency Taskforce directories
Submit any updates to Safe and Open, Takeout Takeover and the Arvada Gift Card Hub. We will be promoting these directories more over the coming months.
5. Learn from your peers and global business experts
Join us on November 18 for the 2020 Business Summit, where we will offer business education and innovative solutions designed to help you increase your capacity and opportunity to thrive. In our sessions, be inspired by stories from local businesses that have innovated in 2020 and get marketing, technology and HR tips to power you into 2021. This half-day event will be hosted on a Map Dynamics platform, which gives you access to network with other attendees and view recordings of all the sessions after the event.
6. Stay connected with the Chamber
Along with our partners on the Arvada Resiliency Taskforce (ART), the Arvada Chamber has been committed to providing resources and information to help all Arvada businesses succeed through the pandemic. We will continue to keep a pulse on your needs and advocate on your behalf to keep businesses safe and open. We are also committed to encouraging the community to #InvestInArvada and will lead new campaigns designed to support your business. Please contact any member of ART to discuss your individual needs and share our free Arvada Strong Membership, designed to keep all Arvada businesses up to date.
7. Keep an open mind and stay positive
The world is a scary, unpredictable place right now. Take care of yourself first and read through Jeffco’s mental health resources.
Next, trust that things will get better and permanent changes will require us all to adapt. You are not alone. Entrepreneurship is always full of challenges and this is no different. Approach today like you approached any other roadblock. The fact that you’re reading this and thinking about how to make it through places you ahead of most.
“Together We Go Forward” is Jeffco’s message to the community. In this city, we rally behind the hashtag #WeCanDoThisArvada. You’ve got this. And we’re here for you.
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