Other features include a News feed, Village Calendar, History page and Photo Gallery. Click on the image of the new site's home page below to take a virtual trip through North Lewisburg and bookmark the page for later use.

Census Day is being observed locally in Urbana, Champaign County, and nationwide on April 1, 2020.  By this date, every household will have received an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census.  Each household’s response to the 2020 Census will be based on where each person is living as of April 1, 2020. 
 
As of March 29, 2020, the national self-response rate to the 2020 Census is 34.7% and 37.6% statewide in Ohio.  Locally, self-response rates are as follows: Champaign County is at 36.7%, Urbana is at 37.5%, Mechanicsburg is at 32.5%, North Lewisburg is at 30.1%, and Saint Paris is at 27.4%.  Overall, the self-response rate in Champaign County is trending below surrounding counties with the exception of Logan County.  Regionally, Logan County is at 33.0%, Shelby County is at 40.7%, Miami County is at 41.7%, Clark County is at 38.4%, Madison County is at 38.3%, and Union County is at 41.6%.  Urbana’s self-response rate is trending above Bellefontaine (36.9%) and below Marysville (39.7%) and London (39.0%).
 
Urbana and Champaign County households are encouraged to respond to the 2020 Census now and be counted.  Households can respond online, answer by phone by calling (1-844-330-2020), or by requesting a paper questionnaire.  The 2020 Census only takes about 10 minutes to complete.  Visit www.2020census.gov for additional information.
 
In preparation for upcoming field operations for the 2020 Census, the United States Census Bureau continues to hire locally in Champaign County.  The local pay rate for these positions is $16.50 to $18.00 per hour.  Visit www.2020census.gov/jobs for more information.

If your business may qualify for the Small Business Association’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, we encourage you to join a webinar with Alex Kohls of the SBA’s Columbus District Office on Tuesday, March 31 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The purpose of this webinar is to walk through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, review the application process, and answer any questions. Here is the link to join the meeting and post questions: https://www.uberconference.com/mshimp. The dial-in conference number is (937) 314-3034. No PIN needed.

AND if you are a Champaign County business owner and you haven't filled out the CEP's Business Impact Survey yet, please do so by April 1st at 5pm. Thank you!

Senate Republicans and Democrats have unveiled legislation to provide emergency relief to workers, families, small businesses, and distressed industries. The full package is big, targeted, and will make a difference. Here are the details on how this package will protect Americans’ livelihoods.
Key points:

• A total of $500 billion in emergency relief to distressed businesses, as well as state and municipalities
• Provides flexibility for local businesses to team up with local banks
• Reinforces commonsense safeguards against abuse

What you need to know:

• Unleashes the Fed’s Tools to Provide Liquidity: $425 billion for loans, loan guarantees, and investments in support of facilities established by the Fed under 13(3) authority for purpose of providing liquidity to businesses, states, or municipalities through purchasing obligations or other interests directly from issuers of such obligations or other interests.
• Loans, Not Bailouts, for Major Industry: Direct lending to the following: $50 billion for passenger airlines, $8 billion for cargo airlines, and $17 billion for businesses critical to “maintaining national security.”
• Protecting Workers, Not Boosting Executive Compensation: Employee and executive total compensation may not exceed $425,000, stock buybacks are prohibited during the duration of the loan, and borrowers must maintain exiting payroll as of March 13
• Giving Businesses and Banks Flexibility to Work Together: The bill cuts red tape to ensure that banks have room to provide the resources businesses need.
  
  

The Details: Workers need to be able to return to their livelihoods once this crisis is over. The Senate’s bill ensures that loans will be made available to key industries with strong taxpayer protections, and ensures that businesses will have access to the resources they need from local banks.
CLICK HERE to learn about the Senate CARES bill tax provisions.
CLICK HERE to learn about the Senate CARES bill health provisions.
CLICK HERE to learn about the Senate CARES bill unemployment provisions.
CLICK HERE to learn about the Senate CARES bill small business provisions.

A deal was reached early this morning on the third and largest COVID-19 aid bill, a stimulus package designed to help the ailing economy and ease the burden on families and workers. At over $2 trillion dollars, there is simply nothing in our past to compare it to as we move further into uncharted territory.  
 
For economic developers, the bill contains many items of interest. Click below to download and view a first glance breakdown by agency or program. The situation remains fluid as the Senate continues to debate a few remaining sticking points, but we believe this to be fairly close to what their final bill will look like in terms of scope.

by Jacqui Fatka | FarmProgress.com
The Senate advanced by a vote of 96-0 its Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security Act (CARES Act) in a vote late Wednesday night in the third tranche of assistance offered by Congress as it attempts to respond to the economic fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19). For farmers, the final $2 trillion package includes some specific requests, such as additional lending authority to for the Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC) and livestock and disaster assistance.

The COVID-19 impact on agriculture includes a rapid and unanticipated decline in commodity prices, the likely closure of ethanol plants, the dramatic decline in full-service restaurant and school meal demand and the reduction in direct-to-consumer sales.

Ahead of the final deal, 48 agriculture groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, joined together in calling on Congress to expand the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s borrowing authority under the CCC. The agreement includes a $14 billion increase in USDA’s borrowing authority under the CCC, consistent with a long history of the CCC being tapped to responsibly support agriculture in times of crisis, and $9.5 billion to assist specialty crop producers, direct retail farmers and livestock operators.

“The aid to farmers in this package, including funding for the CCC and the Office of the Secretary, will allow USDA to begin crafting an appropriate relief program for agriculture,” American Farm Bureau president Zippy Duvall said.

The bill also includes direct payments to individuals ($1,200 per individual or $2,400 per married couple), $130 billion for hospitals, $150 billion for local and state governments and $300 billion in financial aid for small businesses. Additionally, it allocates funding for nutrition assistance programs, rural broadband and rural health resources.

Relief for farmers and ranchers

• $9.5 billion dedicated disaster fund to help farmers who are experiencing financial losses from the coronavirus crisis, including targeted support for fruit and vegetable growers, dairy and livestock farmers and local food producers.
• $14 billion to fund the farm bill’s farm safety net through the CCC.
• Eligibility for farmers and agricultural and rural businesses to receive up to $10 million in small business interruption loans from eligible lenders, including Farm Credit institutions, through the Small Business Administration. Repayment forgiveness will be provided for funds used for payroll, rent or mortgage and utility bills.
• $3 million to increase capacity at USDA's Farm Service Agency to meet increased demand from farmers affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

Assistance for small towns and rural communities

• $1 billion available in guaranteed loans to help rural businesses weather the economic downturn.
• $100 billion to hospitals, health care providers and facilities, including those in rural areas.
• $25 million for telemedicine tools to help rural patients access medical care, no matter where they live.
• $100 million for high-speed internet expansion in small towns and rural communities.
• More than $70 million to help the U.S. Forest Service serve rural communities and reduce the spread of COVID-19 through personal protective equipment for first responders and cleaning of facilities.

Protections for consumers and the food supply

• $55 million for inspection and quarantine at U.S. borders to protect against invasive pests and animal disease.
• $33 million for overtime and temporary food safety inspectors to protect America’s food supply at meat processing plants.
• $45 million to ensure that quality produce and meat reaches grocery stores through increased support for the Agricultural Marketing Service.
• $1.5 million to expedite Environmental Protection Agency approvals of disinfectants needed to control the spread of COVID-19 .

Food access for families

• $15.8 billion to fund food assistance changes made in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
• $9 billion to fund child nutrition improvements made in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
• $450 million to provide food banks with additional resources for food and distribution.
• $100 million for food distribution in tribal communities to provide facility improvements, equipment upgrades and food purchases.

Read the full article on FarmProgress.com

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Dr. Amy Acton, MD, MPH, today continued to remind Ohioans of the oncoming shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, goggles, gloves, gowns and face shields for healthcare workers and first responders.

Taking care of a patient who is in intensive care for a 24-hour shift requires:

• 36 pairs of gloves
• 14 gowns
• 3 pairs of goggles
• 13 N-95 face masks.

The state of Ohio is asking residents and businesses who can donate PPE, or any other essential service or resource, to email together@governor.ohio.gov. 

Staff will receive these emails and coordinate how these resources can best be used to benefit all Ohioans.

NEW DATA DASHBOARD:
An expanded COVID-19 data dashboard has been designed by the InnovateOhio Platform and is now available online.

The dashboard displays the most recent preliminary data reported to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) about COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Ohio by selected demographics and county of residence.

There are 867 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ohio and 15 deaths. A total of 223 people have been hospitalized, including 91 admissions to intensive care units. 

In-depth data on the new dashboard can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov. 

Video of today's full update, including versions with foreign language closed captioning, can be viewed on the Ohio Channel's YouTube page. 

For more information on Ohio's response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.

Join The Montrose Group for a webinar on Mar 27, 2020 at 10:00 AM EDT.
 
Companies and nonprofits impacted by COVID 19 cannot survive or thrive without adequate capital. To position these companies and nonprofits for success, the Montrose Group is hosting a webinar on Friday, March 27, 2020 at 10am Eastern time to review with national experts COVID 19 Small Business Finance Options.

Topics to be discussed include the Small Business Administration $50B Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, other SBA programs and COVID 19 state loan programs from over a dozen states.

Michael Kinninger, Executive Director of the Ohio Statewide Development Corporation, and the Montrose Group team will outline not just what small business financing programs are available but how companies can access this funding from federal and state government sources.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Register Now

Ohio Department of Insurance Issues Bulletin 2020-03 Health Insurance Coverage Flexibility for Ohio Employees
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s declaration of a state of emergency in Ohio (See Executive Order 2020-01D), the Ohio Superintendent of Insurance (the Superintendent) issued Bulletin 2020-03 and ordered and directed all health plan issuers, including insurance companies, stop loss insurers, health insuring corporations, MEWAs, non-federal governmental health plans, and other entities transacting the business of insurance in the State of Ohio, or that are subject to the jurisdiction of the Superintendent (collectively Insurers), to comply with new requirements during the state of emergency.

Read More About Bulletin 2020-03