Your Chamber at Work - January 11, 2021

FROM THE KC CHAMBER'S PRESIDENT AND CEO

Today, Monday, the U.S. Small Business Administration is reopening the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for new borrowers and some existing PPP borrowers. A total of $284-billion in funding is available thanks to the passage of the most recent COVID-19 relief package.

You can find details as well as helpful links here. Here’s the link to the PPP Borrower Application Form to use with your eligible lender. If you received PPP previously, here’s the new form to seek a second draw of a forgivable loan.

For the next couple of days, the application process is open only for community financial institutions (CFIs) like Kansas City’s AltCap that serve minority- and women-owned businesses. The SBA says PPP will open to all lenders a few days later.

Those minority-owned businesses were largely excluded from the first round of funding, as we saw here in the Kansas City region. This time, specific funding is being set aside for small businesses with 10 or fewer employees, businesses located in Low to Moderate Income (LMI) areas, and mission lenders to hard-to-reach communities. A welcome change – and something the Chamber had advocated for with our federal delegation.

COMMUNITY BLOOD DRIVE WITH COVID ANTIBODY TESTING

Help the community by giving blood. The KC Chamber will host a Community Blood Drive, Monday January 25, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in our Chamber Board Room in the southeast corner of Union Station.  The CBC will also be testing all donors for COVID antibodies. The need for blood is at pre-COVID levels but the blood supply is dangerously low. Sign up here and read about the safety precautions the CBC is taking to make sure donors and staff are safe.

CENTURIONS DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION SYMPOSIUM: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Recent political, social, and economic turmoil has revealed long-standing and undeniable inequities in our community, ironically making it more challenging for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Professionals to show the importance of unity when we need it most. Join the Centurions for the upcoming DEI symposium Where Do We Go from Here, January 28, 9 to 11 a.m. This symposium will explore ways to come together as we work to bring our communities and nation back together and cover topics such as COVID-19 and its impacts on communities of color, allyship during times of chaos, how economic development is working to create a more equitable KC. Keynote speaker is Dr. Andrea Hendricks, one of the KC Chamber’s 2020 ACE Award Recipients. Register here. This event is open to all active and alumni Centurions and their guests.

THE FUTURE OF WORKSPACE POST PANDEMIC

Join us for The Future of Workspace Post Pandemic, Wednesday February 5, 8-9 a.m. as the Chamber’s Real Estate Committee invites workspace experts to return and share perspectives on the future of the workplace in the wake of the COVID-19 impact. We’ll focus on commercial real estate, common spaces, the short and long-term impacts, and whether the workplace will ever look the same. Register here. Thanks to Real Estate Committee Sponsors Centric, McCownGordon Construction, Polsinelli, VanTrust Real Estate, Hallmark, and BNIM.

STRAIGHT TALK ON VACCINES FOR EMPLOYERS AND HR PROFESSIONALS

As our community gets closer to widespread vaccine availability, businesses may face questions from and situations with their employees that are unfamiliar and unprecedented in their workplace. To help business leaders and human resource professionals be better prepared for these conversations, the Society for Human Resource Management of Kansas City (SHRM-KC) has partnered with the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, the KC Chamber, Kansas City Area Development Council, KC Rising, and Mid-America Regional Council on a timely and relevant event. We’ll meet virtually via Zoom on January 27, from 10 to 11 a.m.

Join SHRM-KC board members Anne Baggott, Shareholder/Director with Dysart Taylor, an employment law specialist who works on these issues with businesses of all sizes, and Jill Crutchfield, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Senior Human Resources Director for North Kansas City Hospital, to learn what to expect with regard to: 

• Whether employers can require employees to get vaccinated;
• If vaccines are required, the options for administering and enforcing them; and
• Managing accommodation requests and employee objections.

Our speakers will provide timely information and discuss actual situations and hypothetical but likely issues. Please bring your questions for Q&A. This event will be ideal for businesses of all sizes that are planning for widespread vaccine availability and working through the multitude of related issues to consider when implementing vaccine-related policies. This webinar has been pre-approved for 1.0 hour of SHRM Professional Development Credit (PDC) for SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP certified professionals. Register here.