Tag: Montana Governor

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Governor Bullock Announces Closure of Dine-In Food Service and Alcoholic Beverage Businesses, and Other Activities that Pose Enhanced Risks to Curtail Spread of COVID-19

The Teton County Sanitarian and the Teton County Health Department are available if you have any questions about this directive:

Teton County Health Department
Health@TetonMT.org
(406) 466-2562

Austin Moyer
Teton County Sanitarian
AMoyer@TetonCountyMT.gov
(406) 466-2150

They recommend that all businesses prepare for the likely possibility that this directive will be extended beyond March 27th, and currently unaffected businesses should make preparations so that they are not blindsided by a similar order on all “non-essential” businesses. Unfortunately, we would not expect to get advanced notice regarding such an order, so businesses should make sure their employees understand what plans they have in place before they are needed.

This directive permits food delivery and takeout

To curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Montana, Governor Steve Bullock today announced measures to close dine-in food service and alcoholic beverage businesses and other activities that pose enhanced health risks, effective at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 20, 2020. This Directive expires at 11:59 p.m. on March 27, 2020, the same day that school closures are set to expire, though the date will likely be extended.

“Both young and older Montanans, in urban and rural communities, have tested positive for coronavirus, making it even more clear that this virus impacts us all and that these actions are imperative to protecting our friends and neighbors,” said Governor Bullock. “We face extraordinary health risks – and with it even further risks to our economic and social well-being – if we do not act now. I do not take this decision lightly and it was done so in consultation with public health professionals. Montanans, too, need to take this seriously. It’s up to all of us to stop the spread of this virus.”

Under the Directive, the following places are closed to ingress, egress, use, and occupancy by members of the public:

  • Restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffeehouses, and other similar establishments offering food or beverage for on-premises consumption.
  • Alcoholic beverage service businesses, including bars, taverns, brewpubs, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, special licensees, clubs, and other establishments offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.
  • Cigar bars.
  • Health clubs, health spas, gyms, aquatic centers, pools and hot springs, indoor facilities at ski areas, climbing gyms, fitness studios, and indoor recreational facilities.
  • Movie and performance theaters, nightclubs, concert halls, bowling alleys, bingo halls, and music halls.
  • Casinos.

The places subject to this Directive are permitted and encouraged to offer food and beverage using delivery service, window service, walk-up service, drive-through service, or drive-up service, and to use precautions in doing so to mitigate the potential transmission of COVID-19, including social distancing.

Read the Governor’s full directive:

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Montana Department of Commerce: Coronavirus Taskforce Update

Montana Governor's Coronavirus Task Force

The state recognizes the substantial economic impact that some businesses have experienced due to novel coronavirus or COVID-19. The Department of Commerce in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration are working to hard to make emergency funding available for those businesses.

When disaster assistance will be available in Montana

  • If a small business has suffered substantial economic injury as a result of COVID-19, it may be eligible for financial assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
  • Small businesses and small agricultural cooperatives that have suffered substantial economic injury may be eligible for the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program.
  • Substantial economic injury is the inability of a business to meet its obligations as they mature and to pay its ordinary and necessary operating expenses.
  • An EIDL can help meet necessary financial obligations that a business could have met had the disaster not occurred.
  • It provides relief from economic injury caused directly by the disaster and permits the business to maintain a reasonable working capital position during the period affected by the disaster.
  • The SBA provides EIDL assistance only to those businesses that SBA determines are unable to obtain credit elsewhere.
  • The loan amount will be based on the business’ actual economic injury and financial needs.
  • The interest rate on EIDLs is currently at 3.75 percent per year.
  • The term of the loans cannot exceed 30 years.
  • Terms and conditions will be determined by the business’ ability to repay the loan

Listed below is a step by step process for businesses that have experienced substantial economic injury as a result of COVID-19

  1. Complete the Economic Injury Worksheets as soon as possible, click here to access the worksheet, and submit it to your county Disaster and Emergency Services, (DES) Office.
  2. If your county does not have a DES office or if you are unable to contact them, the worksheet can be sent to MTDES@mt.gov.
  3. Your county DES office will submit the worksheet to the state, and the state will submit it to the SBA along with a request for an SBA declaration.
  4. Once the SBA has issued an Economic Injury Disaster Loan declaration for your county, businesses will be eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan.
  5. Additional information on the loan program and how to apply can be found at the SBA website here.

For additional information, please contact the SBA disaster assistance customer service center. Call 1-800-659-2955 (TTY: 1-800-877-8339) or e-mail disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.