This morning I attended a webinar hosted by the Wyoming Business Council. Several participants including members from the health and business community at the state-level, were on the call to discuss the latest updates to permit certain businesses to open, as long as certain measures are followed. They also discussed the newly issued guidance around variance and exception requests that businesses can make.
Following is a brief discussion of various areas they covered, with some thoughts on how they may affect your business. The webinar (and my subsequent comments) primarily focus on child care, restaurants, gyms, and health and beauty businesses; however, the information pertaining to variance and exception requests really applies to any business that feels they may be eligible for an exception, and would like to work with their county or the state to receive exception status.
COVID-19 AND COMMUNITY SPREAD UPDATE FOR WYOMING
The chart below was shared to help business owners understand some of the context for why the opening of Wyoming businesses is still a gradual process, rather than “throwing open our doors” per say. I have found this to be an area of recent concern among Star Valley residents--particularly given our small population and the relatively few COVID-19 cases in Lincoln county compared to other states. We all want businesses to reopen, but the state’s concern is well illustrated in this chart.
While many of these metrics are “Stabilizing,” there is still an area of concern with the current number of New Cases across the state. In addition, the state has seen none of these situations move to an “Improving” status.
The risk to certain businesses opening too soon cannot be understated. In some cases, especially a business that needs to hire staff, opening too soon and later needing to close due to the spread of the virus can be even more detrimental to the business.
WideOpenWyo.org Introduced
The panelists took some time to discuss a new website that can help local businesses be found and to share temporary hours of operation. It can be found at www.wideopenwyo.org.
It appears that this site has been open for a time, but when I looked through the businesses listed in Star Valley, I could only see a handful (6 listed in all of Afton, for instance). This is likely due to the word not yet getting out about this resource.
Every business whose hours have been impacted by the virus should get themselves listed on this site. Your business website can be linked as well. I took a snapshot below so you can see what it looks like and how your business show up (appear alphabetically by default).
This brings up another point. If you haven’t yet done so, update your business hours listing on Google, as well as Apple and Google maps, and Yelp apps (among others you may be listed on).
Guidance for child care, restaurants, gyms, and health and beauty businesses
The bulk of the discussion centered on specific guidance for child care, restaurants, gyms, and health and beauty-related businesses, and what requirements they need to follow in order to begin opening for business. The slides are titled and shared below, with a few highlights beneath each one (For better quality of the slides, please visit https://wyomingbusiness.org/covid19. I was told the recorded webinars and slides would be shared here in time.)
Child Care Businesses
Gyms and Fitness Facilities
The key points highlighted by the panelists was the need for gyms to be mindful of the number of people they have in specific rooms at any given time. This should be limited to no more than 9 people, while also enforcing a distance of no less than 6 feet apart. No personal trainers or “spotting” in gyms are allowed currently.
Gyms and fitness facilities could experience a surge initially upon opening (I know a lot of people dying to get back to working out!), so these types of businesses should be prepared for that and how to properly handle traffic flow. Gym equipment should be cleaned after each use (a good general practice anyway).
Restaurant and Dining Facilities
Dine-in options remain closed for now, but restaurants are encouraged to continue curbside pickup and in-store pick up options, as long as there are no more than five people inside at any given time and they maintain social distancing.
Health and Beauty Businesses
The key point I picked out for health and beauty related businesses is they are to be by appointment only (no walk-ins). This will make it critical for these types of businesses to communicate this to existing and potential customers, whether that be via signage outside, or updates to communication channels like website or social media pages.
Variance and Exception Guidelines
Finally, one of the most interesting topics of discussion was the permitting of variances and exceptions to state guidelines. What’s the difference? A variance is a county-wide easing of certain restrictions against certain types of businesses. My understanding is the county health office, working in tandem with the county attorney and state attorney general, can grant a variance for certain classifications of businesses, allowing them to operate differently than state guidelines require. For example, perhaps restaurants in Star Valley could unitedly request permission to maintain outdoor seating at the facilities, even though this is not specifically permitted in state rules.
An exception is when one specific business requests an exception to a rule, rather than a sweeping ruling affecting all similar business types. The variance and exception process is outlined in the image below.
I asked the panelists what the expected turnaround time would be for these types of requests. Since exceptions are case by case and are primarily handled by county health officials, the expectation is these are handled more quickly. Variances require more coordination across various state and county authorities, meaning they can take longer. Either way, businesses are encouraged to work with their county health officials. And please, be patient, since they may be handling many requests at once.
I hope this information is helpful to you. If you need clarification or if you’re a county of state official and notice any errors, please reach out to me and I can make corrections. If you’re a business owner and would like to bounce ideas around on how to best help your business during this time, feel free to contact me.