Following issuance of a ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe, Save Lives’ order in Michigan by Governor Whitmer in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, SBAM President Brian Calley issued the following statement:
“The COVID-19 pandemic is like nothing our state has ever seen and we appreciate Governor Whitmer’s leadership and thoughtful approach to taking action during this crisis. Although we know many of our members are facing severe hardship over this crisis, it is important that we trust that Governor is making the best decisions she can based on the information available to her. We support this action to prevent further spreading of COVID-19 in Michigan and urge our members to robustly comply.
“We appreciate that Governor Whitmer has closely reviewed actions taken in other states and worked to ensure a stay at home order runs more smoothly in our state. Ensuring the continued operation of our supply chain and critical infrastructure during this time will help meet the needs of Michiganders while keeping critical businesses in operation. This order establishes an efficient process to ensure that bureaucracy does not stop critical life saving and life preserving work. Further, it allows for reasonable wind down of work in process and for all businesses to designate staff to perform basic minimum operations on site.
“Nothing about this situation is ideal but our focus has been on ensuring that a stay at home order is implemented in the least painful way possible for small businesses. We will continue to support small businesses and will now focus our advocacy on securing rescue packages for small business owners at both the state and federal level.
“SBAM is committed to supporting small businesses during this pandemic, providing resources to help minimize the losses this crisis is causing. We will continue to provide daily briefings and share resources and information that small businesses need as it becomes available. We understand the devastating impact this pandemic is having on small businesses across our state. Though times are tough, we encourage all Michiganders to stay calm and take dealing with this pandemic one step at a time. Together, Michigan will navigate through this crisis and move forward with life.”