Partnership to help with reopening

ALBANY, N.Y. » To help local manufacturers with the reopening of the regional economy, the Chief Executives Network for Manufacturing (CEN), in partnership with the Center for Economic Growth (CEG), is sponsoring the Capital Region Manufacturing Re-Start Program.

This free resource is a program that will help manufacturers restart operations and enhance worker safety on shop floors.

Since the program launched last Tuesday, 10 Capital Region manufacturers have signed up to participate in it. Manufacturers can sign up for the program at: https://go.ceg.org/mfgrestart.

“I am pleased to share CEN is sponsoring a Re-Start program in partnership with CEG’s Business Growth Solutions team. This program will help manufacturers review, understand, and achieve compliance with the necessary steps to operate under recommended guidelines in light of the COVID-19 pandemic,” CEN Chairman and President John Tattersall said in a news release.

The Capital Region Re-Start Program is being administered by CEG and is modeled after a similar initiative undertaken by the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY).

The Re-Start Program features an online portal supported by Microsoft Teams where participating manufacturers can get access to:

• A chat system to communicate with peer manufacturers on best practices

• A live document identifying local resources for PPE, sanitizing, signage, thermometers, and other related COVID-19 safety items;

• Links to current CDC, De

partment of Health, and OAHSA guidelines;

• The New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Back to Work Playbook;

• A “best practices” safety checklist;

• The CEN Safety Pledge; and

• Peer review assistance. An important – but optional – component of the Re-Start program is the CEN Safety Pledge. Under the Pledge, manufacturers would agree to take extraordinary steps to adhere to several best practices identified to enhance worker safety.

These steps include strategies for controlling site traffic, enhanced hygiene, social distancing and reduced density, emergency response and quarantine procedures, and robust communication.

Manufacturers who take the CEN Safety Pledge will be paired with a peer reviewer from another participating company; from an administrative standpoint peer reviewers will not be direct competitors to participating companies, and strict non-disclosure agreements will be put in place.

Guided by identified best practices and state and federal guidelines, the peer reviewers will provide manufacturers with recommendations on how to improve safety in their factories.