The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
With reopening looming, state slow to finalize rules
With May ‘reopen’ date looming, Connecticut slow to finalize rules
Heading into Friday when he unveiled the first phase of his administration’s plan for many Connecticut businesses to resume commerce, Gov. Ned Lamont noted the target “reopening” date of May 20 was just that — a target — and that if businesses need more time to get ready, they should set a later date.
Proprietors and managers statewide are eager — and some want to know why the governor’s advisers could not get them the rules of the road sooner so they could ramp up in preparation.
With the exception of salons subject to intensified safeguards beyond most other businesses, Lamont’s Reopening Connecticut committee for the most part is adopting procedures for Main Street businesses and offices that have already been suggested by varying government agencies, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to
Lamont’s own administration. Malls will be allowed to reopen, with gyms, hotels and resorts to remain shuttered until a later phase.
For businesses that can resume May 20, managers and proprietors are being given less than 12 days to crank their workplaces back into gear if they wish to open that Wednesday, with many desperate to do so to rebuild revenues on which their survival depends.
Is it sufficient time? Organizations are faced with any number of challenges, including rehiring and training employees in any new operating procedures for premises and interactions. Human resources policies must be re-calibrated, reliable sources established for protective gear, perishable inventories restocked, and a coherent set of rules relayed to customers and vendors.
Lamont announced on April 13 the establishment of his Reopen Connecticut panel under co-chairs Dr. Albert Ko of the Yale School of Public Health and Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo. It would be another 10 days before the panel would announce its member list drawing on leaders statewide from the health, business, government and education, giving the full group less than a month after its formal establishment to draw up a plan in advance of Lamont’s target date.
Even as Lamont introduced the plan Friday afternoon, the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development said that the written rules would not go online until later that night or Saturday morning. On a Friday conference call sponsored by Hearst Connecticut Media, Lamont said that his administration expects to get additional feedback from businesses after letting the initial guidance “simmer for a few days” before issuing a final set of protocols.
“May 20 is just a date that you ‘can’ open up, not a day that you ‘should’ open up — until you’re ready,” Lamont said the day before. “It’s an art as well as a science . ... I think we’ve got it right.”
‘Establishments weren’t waiting’
With 48,000 Connecticut businesses having tapped Paycheck Protection Program loans covering eight weeks of payroll — forgiven only if they do not lay off employees — cash flow is critical. The first set of 18,000plus PPP recipients have only until mid-June to decide on any staffing decisions going forward.
Many guidelines have already been disseminated for businesses that have continued operating through the pandemic, such as spacing between individuals, enhanced sanitizing procedures, and stay-athome policies for those exhibiting symptoms. In early April, Lamont issued a “Safe Stores” executive order that set expectations that will be duplicated in many workplaces.
Lamont reiterated on Friday that the Reopen Connecticut committee has been consulting closely with personnel from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in drawing up its guidelines behind closed doors.
Questions are numerous, with businesses likely needing a day or two for training their people prior to opening in addition to prepping workplaces and policies. While the Reopen Connecticut committee included many key industries impacted the most by Lamont’s emergency closures, including hospitality, retail and labor groups, other potential key voices were left off the panel, to include experts in human resources, law and business finance.
During a Thursday news conference, Lamont let slip a few details of the final plan — for instance, the likelihood of salons being asked to create clear barriers between stations — raising the question of why details were not put out sooner to allow businesses more time to prepare.
“Thousands of businesses want to open,” said David Lewis, CEO of the Norwalk-based human resources training and consultancy firm OperationsInc and a board member of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. “None have have a clear idea of what we will be receiving from the state.
Lamont is leaving some decisions up to municipalities, including how to handle outdoor seating for restaurants and broader allowances for those that lack existing permits or extra seating for those that do, whether on sidewalks or in designated parking areas. Lamont said from the state’s perspective, restaurants will have “the green light” but that he would not interfere with local decisions.
“We are certainly hearing from restaurants in particular that they need clarity so that they can prepare,” David Kooris, president of the Stamford Downtown Special Services
District, said in advance of Lamont’s Friday afternoon review. “I expect that we’ll see that detail, ... and while that only leaves about 10 days until the 20th, the good news is that establishments and organizations like ours weren’t waiting to think about it until today.
“They’ve telegraphed the broad outlines of the rules and have demonstrated an openness to evolve as new information becomes available,” Kooris added. “That’s a great start.”
Nooyi said she expects overall restaurant patronage to rebound slowly, based on observations of other states such as Georgia that have allowed a resumption of dining with suburban venues trailing those in downtown areas.
“It’s a new way of life, but our hope is that over two, three, four weeks after May 20, people will start to get a little more comfortable,” Nooyi said Thursday. “We’re taking baby steps to start getting businesses ready and consumers comfortable with frequenting these businesses, whether it’s retail or restaurants, so this is going to be a slow process.”