YOUR TRUSTED RESOURCE

March 20, 2020

­Late yesterday, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf mandated all “non-life sustaining” businesses to close by 8 p.m. Accordingly, our office is now closed until further notice. We have made arrangements for our team to continue to service you, our members, and remain operational as they work remotely. We are here to support your business and have assembled a virtual team to help you navigate these uncertain times. Please click here for contact information, our Covid-19 Employer Resources section, and to stay current on everything related to this pandemic and how it relates to your business.

Summary: Governor Wolf ordered that all businesses that are not life-sustaining must close effective immediately, regardless of whether the business is open to the public or not. At the same time, the Pennsylvania Department of Health issued an Order materially the same as the Governor’s Order. The Governor’s Order will start being enforced at 12:01 am, Saturday, March 21, 2020. The mandated closure permits telework or virtual (work from home) operations, so long as social distancing and other mitigation measures are followed in such operations. 

A PDF copy of the Governor’s Order, the Department of Health’s Order, and a list delineating life-sustaining and non-life-sustaining businesses are linked below.     

PA Governor's Order - Closure of All Non-Life-Sustaining Businesses

PA Governor's List of Life-Sustaining and Non-Life-Sustaining Businesses

Order of the Secretary of the PA Department of Health Regarding the Closure of All Businesses That Are Not Life Sustaining

For businesses inquiring whether they are deemed life-sustaining, the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) has set up a two-pronged process to determine eligibility and to begin processing waiver requests to exempt businesses. We’ve set up two resource accounts that DCED will be staffing:

  1. ra-dcedcs@pa.gov – A resource account to send questions about whether businesses need
    to close;
  2. RA-dcexemption@pa.gov – A resource account if businesses want to apply for a waiver and want information on the process. 

These accounts have dedicated staff responding and will be the fastest way to receive information.

Since this announcement, we have been in contact with our strategic partner groups around the state to convey to our elected officials and the governor’s office the crushing impact this overly-broad and imprecise business closure order will have on businesses throughout Pennsylvania. Here is the PMA response to Governor Wolf: http://www.pamanufacturers.org/blog/fight-pandemic-manufacturers-need-wolf-amend-executive-order.

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