May 5, 2020 - Office Activity Update

Lt. Governor McKee today hosted one of his twice weekly COVID-19 virtual town hall meetings for Rhode Island's small business community. He began the call by thanking the hundreds of people who have been participating in the meetings and reminded everyone that the number one priority during the pandemic is the health and safety of all Rhode Islanders.

Assistant Director Matthew Weldon of the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT) provided an update on DLT's website which now has links to troubleshoot claims and to connect to DLT's fraud unit. Assistant Director Weldon also answered questions from viewers.

Department of Business Regulation Director Liz Tanner and Commerce RI Communications Director Matt Sheaff discussed Phase 1 of Rhode Island's reopening strategy. Lt. Governor McKee suggested looking to other countries, such as Australia and Japan, for reopening models.

The Lt. Governor received an update on the Gift it Forward initiative from Lori Giuttari of Visual Thrive and Justin Gontarek of Oceanside Graphics. They announced that Cox Media has donated free airtime to help drive traffic to the site.

The following panel of small business owners discussed reopening: Christine Raffa of Raffa Yoga, Urban Sweat Spa, & Raffa Real Food Vegan Café; Richard Sardella of Sardella's, Imbriglio's, & Marina Pub and Rebecca Brady of Hometown Poké. Notably, Brady discussed how Lt. Governor McKee helped eliminate some of the street closures in Providence that were enacted without the community's input or notice. The closures were negatively impacting Brady's small business, but after a phone call with Lt. Governor McKee and the City of Providence, the issue was resolved.

Lt. Governor McKee introduced the next reopening panel focused on the salon and spa industry which featured: Nancy Boegler of Salon Centric/L'Oreal, Gina Silvestro of Gel Essentialz Salon & Distribution, and Lyn Daponte of Titian Salon. The panel discussed how not knowing the reopening date for their industry is making it difficult to order the supplies they need. Lt. Governor McKee noted that the proposed pilot reopening plan for salons would create an unlevel playing field within this industry. He then noted that Australia never closed their salons and the state needs to be looking at other models to expedite this process safely.

Lt. Governor McKee provided closing remarks, thanked the guest panelists, and also thanked everyone who joined the hour long presentation.