Good afternoon,

We have much to report today. As you have probably heard, today the president signed into law an amendment that approves additional funds for coronavirus relief, including $320 billion in PPP funds. We encourage you to review the resources related to relief funding that we’ve shared on our blog and at www.alcc.com/covid.

As you know, earlier this week Governor Polis outlined a “safer at home” plan for slowly reopening the state economy. We know that some state municipalities have issued extensions of or amendments to their own stay-at-home orders, including City and County of Denver, Boulder County, and Jefferson County, which extended their stay-at-home orders through May 8.Eagle and Mesa Counties are seeking exemptions to the state order. Some municipalities are still assessing the situation, including Tri-County Health Department (Adams, Arapahoe, and Douglas Counties), which will make a decision on Sunday about whether to extend their stay-at-home order or take other action. [UPDATE and CORRECTION 4/27/20: Tri-County Health Department has also extended its stay-at-home order to May 8.  Correction: Grand County never issued a Stay-at-Home Order and it has NOT been extended. However, Grand County's Short Term Lodging Order HAS been extended to May 21. ]

While we still have not received additional information on any future guidelines from the state, we suggest you continue to follow ALCC’s Landscape Industry Guidance for Business Operations During COVID-19 in Colorado. It’s important that we continue to follow proper safety protocols for the health and welfare of our employees and clients as well as to demonstrate the professionalism of our industry.

We are also pleased to share that Pitkin County has named landscaping to its list of essential businesses permitted to operate provided that they have a safety plan in place. ALCC, in partnership with Pitkin county landscape companies, was involved in the development of that guideline, which is recommended in an updated public health order (see page 10, item 19).

We understand that the situation related to COVID-19 is changing continuously. We recommend that you check with your county to confirm any additional orders beyond the state’s “safer at home” plan. Please let us know if you have additional insights on your local situation, and contact us if you have questions or needs related to your business and COVID-19.

Finally, we invite you to tell us how your hiring efforts are going. Look for a survey next week so that we can learn how many open positions our member companies have and what skills you need most in new hires. We hope to soon share some recruiting resources and information on how we might find opportunities to connect those who have experienced job loss during the pandemic with member companies that are interested in retraining people for a new career in the landscape industry.

Please follow our blog for breaking news and visit www.alcc.com/covid for helpful resources. You can also keep up with our latest blog posts by following us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Warm regards,

John

John McMahon | Chief Executive Officer
Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado