The Basalt area transitions to Level Orange this week

In order to help you navigate these new challenges in a business capacity and help keep the community safe, here are seven tips to transition your business to Level Orange (h/t to the Arvada Chamber and the Vail Valley Partnership).

On November 12, Pitkin County hosted a Business Town Hall that reviewed many of the Level Orange changes: Presentation | Meeting Recording

1. Consider how you can change the delivery of your services

New business capacity limits restaurants, places of worship, non-critical manufacturing, offices, retail and gyms to 25% capacity. Are you able to offer your goods and services via delivery, takeout, or curbside pickup? Can you maximize your capacity by extending your business to a patio or sidewalk? The State of Colorado is offering a restaurant grant program and we will continue to monitor relief programs for other industries.

2. Communicate with your staff

Communicate all changes to hours and operations internally to your team. Document a policy and strategy for positive case results with employees and customers. Then, create contingency plans for handling staff absences, including any actions taken to sanitize and prepare the workspace. 

Employers and employees: Visit the following pages for testing locations and the latest FAQs tied to testing:

• Eagle County testing locations
• Pitkin County testing locations
• Garfield County testing locations

Ensure that you have updated any relevant business or event plans with the appropriate county.

Quarantine and isolation

Additional information and resources on quarantine and isolation can be found on the Public Health Information – Quarantine & Isolation page.

Current guidelines: Local public health contract tracing teams are beyond capacity. Due to these delays in contact tracing, individuals should take action without waiting for public health intervention:

• If you are sick or test positive = isolate for 10 days.
• If you are exposed to someone who has COVID-like symptoms or tests positive = quarantine at home for 14 days.

3. Communicate with your customers

If your hours, offerings, or capacity changes, use multiple channels to ensure your message is widely received and reinforced. Update your website, Google My Business Profile, blog, email lists, social media channels, and other platforms to deliver a consistent message about your business plans.

The US Chamber of Commerce Foundation designed this easy-to-use, customizable workplace flyer to help inform your customers of the steps you are taking.

Be sure to also communicate how the community can best support you immediately. Encourage your customers to get offerings to go, shop now for the holidays, visit in person at less busy times, and exercise patience with new restrictions.

Both OEDIT and CTO are working on a #ShopLocalColorado campaign. Social media resources can be found here. And Small Business Saturday is around the corner. The Basalt Chamber is looking to embrace this as a much longer campaign – “The Season of Small”. 

4. Make sure you utilize your membership benefits

Ensure your business is utilizing your Basalt Chamber membership benefits to communicate with the local business community and our visitors:

• Post sales and specials on the community Calendar of Events on the chamber’s website.
• Ensure your Chamber Directory profile is up-to-date. Basalt Chamber Member Portal instructions [PDF].
• Take advantage of the different advertising Member to Member discounts with our media members.

5. Learn from your peers and global business experts

Check out our events calendar for a variety of partner events from groups including the Small Business Development Center, Colorado Workforce Center, Startup Colorado, and many others. Additional events, workshops and resources will also be sent via the Chamber’s email newsletter.

6. Stay connected with the Chamber

The Basalt Chamber remains committed to providing resources and information to help all Roaring Fork Valley businesses succeed through the pandemic. We will continue to keep a pulse on your needs and advocate on your behalf to keep businesses safe and open. We are also committed to encouraging the community and will lead efforts to communicate to our businesses. Stay in touch with us and let us know how we can help. Our physical doors may not always be open during this time, but our virtual doors never close.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for up to date information.

7. Keep an open mind and stay positive

The world is an unpredictable place right now. Take care of yourself first and remember that the spread is primarily occurring in private gatherings; it is not widespread at schools or workplaces. Please avoid private gatherings and be diligent in the 5 Commitments of Containment to help “be the reason for the season”. Avoid hysteria and remain rational; stay thoughtful and trust that things will get better and permanent changes will require us all to adapt.

Remember: You are not alone. Entrepreneurship is always full of challenges and this is no different. Approach today like you approached any other roadblock. The fact that you’re reading this and thinking about how to make it through places you ahead of most. We are here for you – don’t hesitate to reach out.

Additional Mental Health resources can be found on our Public Health Information page.