April 15

We continue to update the resources described below. The webinars we hosted are available as recordings. We launched a survey showing the results of PPP loan applications by ESOP companies: summary results are available to the general public in our blog post and the full report is available to NCEO members. Our virtual conference will launch next week!

April 3

We just published our blog post Understanding the PPP: Application date, ESOP eligibility, required signatures, and more. 

April 2

We are hosting a series of webinars that are free and open to the public. We'll be posting recordings, PowerPoint slides, and other related resources.

We are continuing to update the page COVID-19 Resources for Your Business, our main entry point for employee ownership resources in the time of the coronavirus, which now includes a Q&A and selected responses to our survey. 

Staff is working from home and will continue to do so at least through May 3, when the stay-at-home order from our county government is currently scheduled to expire. We are answering phones and emails as normal, and all of our operations are normal, except that we are no longer shipping or taking orders for print publications.

March 19

As the impact of the COVID-19 crisis continues to be felt worldwide, many of you are wondering what steps you can take to protects yourselves, your business, and your employees from the adverse effects of an economic standstill. We've compiled useful business resources here. We will update that page as new resources are made available and as we learn more about how the pandemic may affect the employee ownership world, so check back often.

March 16

The San Francisco Bay Area has a high concentration of coronavirus cases and our county government issued a shelter-in-place order that will go into effect tonight. As a reseult, no staff members will be physically present in our office for at least the coming week. We will be fully staffed during our normal hours, but we will all be working from home. We will continue as many of our normal operations as we can, but we will no longer be shipping or taking orders for print publications. Please consider buying the digital versions instead. We will continue to host webinars and the CEP prep course, and we will answer all phone calls and emails on a timely basis.

On the 13th, we extremely reluctantly came to the the decision that the increasing evidence of the severity of the coronavirus outbreak makes it irresponsible for us to host our conference in person in Minneapolis this April. Please see the full announcement on our conference website, and we encourage you to check back on that page for updates for the virtual gathering we will be offering in its place.Please understand that you will not immediately reach a human when you call. We are monitoring all voicemail and we will return your call promptly, so please do not leave multiple messages on multiple lines. 

The phone numbers, email addresses, and areas of responsibility for each staff member are in our staff directory.

Keeping the Virus Out of the Workplace

If nothing else, the coronavirus can serve as a reminder that good health and hygiene practices are important for us all as individuals and as a group.

  • Wash your hands diligently with soap and water and use hand sanitizer when there’s no alternative
  • Wipe down frequently-used surfaces, door knobs, etc
  • Avoid touching your face to the best of your ability (harder than it sounds!)
  • Cough or sneeze into a tissue or handkerchief if possible. If none are available, use the crook of your elbow
  • Stay home if you’re sick

As always, don’t hesitate to contact me ([email protected]) or anyone else on the NCEO staff if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, or ideas.