June 11, 2020

Concord, NH - Today, Governor Chris Sununu issued Emergency Order #51 as part of the state's efforts to respond to COVID-19.

Emergency Order #51:  An order terminating Emergency Orders #4 and #24

Portable Document Format (.pdf) . Visit nh.gov for a list of free .pdf readers for a variety of operating systems.

June 12, 2020 Contact:

10 Tips for Riding COAST Safely During the Pandemic Dover, NH – If you have not ridden public transit and COAST since the beginning of the pandemic, a lot has changed since the beginning of March.

At COAST, they are sanitizing and sterilizing buses throughout the service day to make sure their buses are safe to ride.

COAST has also treated all of their vehicles that are used in curb-to-curb transportation for older adults and individuals with disabilities with an EPA registered water-based antimicrobial nanocoating solution that provides persistent and continuous protection against microbes (bacterias, molds and viruses).

For passengers, until there is an effective treatment or vaccine, here are some recommended steps for a safer and more enjoyable trip on public transit. Some are now seen as common sense; others are specific to public transit and common courtesy:

1. Stay at home if you are not feeling well. If you are sick or experiencing any of the symptoms of COVID-19, you should stay at home. Do not touch your face, and cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow – not into the air or your open hand. Contain your microdroplets from your nose and mouth as much as possible.

2. Talk less and quietly onboard public transit. You release microdroplets whenever you speak, especially when you talk loudly and yell.

3. Wear a face mask or covering. As recommended by public health officials, you are urged to wear a face mask or covering while making a trip on public transit. This protects both yourself and others from potential coronavirus-carrying microdroplets, and they are an added tool given that adequate physical distancing may not always be possible, especially when ridership begins to increase.

4. Use available hand sanitizer when you board the bus. Spray a small amount of hand sanitizer on your hands at the time of boarding (available at the bus entrances) so that when you move back into the seating area, anything you touch is being touched by your just sanitized hands.

5. If you can, avoid the most heavily traveled times and travel when there are less people. Yes, there remain times when the buses are more crowded. These times will vary by bus route.

6. Be patient, respect other passengers and drivers, and pay your fare. We are all in this together. Be considerate; treat others like how you would like to be treated.

7. Minimize your conversations with the bus operators and please keep your distance. While the bus operators are always happy to help answer questions, they are using temporary curtains to protect them at bus stops. Please move through this area as quickly as possible and limit questions for now. If you need to ask a question, please do so from behind the “stand behind line”.

8. Let other passengers exit the vehicle first. Let passengers get off from the vehicle first before boarding. Also give them adequate space to deboard and clear before you move to step aboard.

9. Avoid making seating buddies unless you are riding together as a group; give extra space. Although physical distancing will not always be possible, spread out as much as possible when on the buses.

10. Limit your touching of your face mask or covering. It helps reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus from your hands to other surfaces.

COAST Executive Director, Rad Nichols, commented, “We are doing our part to make our buses safe to ride and we are operating to meet our many passenger’s daily transportation needs. Throughout this pandemic our staff have shown an incredible commitment to our mission to champion and provide customer-focused public transportation with a commitment to excellence in safety and service.”

Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation (COAST) has provided public transit service to the Seacoast New Hampshire region since 1982. COAST is a non-profit agency, operating a regional public transit system that relies primarily on federal and local government support to operate. COAST is governed by a board of directors representing the communities served, two regional planning commissions, and many local and state agencies. COAST’s vision is to be an innovative leader in providing a broad range of public transportation services, connecting, and coordinating a robust network of transportation options for everyone.

Concord, NH - Today, Governor Chris Sununu announced that New Hampshire's Stay at Home Order will expire on Monday, June 15, 2020 at 11:59 PM, along with the cap on gatherings of 10 or less.

• Amateur & Youth Sports Phase II 
• Bowling & Entertainment Centers 
• Charitable Gambling 
• Funeral Homes 
• Gyms 
• Libraries 
• Motorcycle Rides 
• Museums & Art Galleries 
• Outdoor Attractions 
• Outdoor Race Tracks 
• Pools 
• Road Races 
• Tourist Trains 

Additionally, Governor Sununu announced that Indoor Movie Theaters, Performing Arts, and Amusement Parks may begin reopening on Monday, June 29, 2020. Guidance for these industries will be released early next week.

Note: All released guidance documents may be found at covidguidance.nh.gov

Portable Document Format (.pdf) . Visit nh.gov for a list of free .pdf readers for a variety of operating systems.

The following websites are maintaining ongoing lists of businesses with gift card options: Down East Magazine's Help ME Help You Portland Radio Group's We Are Maine Strong WMTW Channel 8's Keep Maine Strong Don't forget about Bangor Savings Bank's "Buoy Local" gift cards! ​​Maine Businesses: Add your business to the above websites!​ ​​PLUS: Facebook is offering a user-friendly gift card creation tool that you can connect directly to Square or or Kabbage. Check it out HERE.

The following websites are maintaining ongoing lists of restaurants and other food shops offering these services: Brunswick Downtown Association's Operation Pick-up Business Update Scarborough City of South Portland's SoPo To-Go City of Westbrook Cooking for Community Maine Magazine Portland Food Map  Portland Local Eats Portland Old Port Town of Falmouth Visit Portland Maine restaurants & food shops: Add your business to the above websites!​

Purchase merchandise, tickets, and other offerings from the websites of businesses who have temporarily closed their brick and mortar locations: First Pier's Maine Open Online is maintaining an ongoing list of Maine businesses with online stores. Don't forget about supporting local artists & musicians in this same way! Many have websites and/or social media where you can buy from them directly. Live Music Venues: While live music venues are unable to open for events, many have merchandise and gift certificates available for purchase on their websites. Maine businesses: Add your online store to Maine Open Online!

Support Maine agricultural and seafood farmers: UMaine Cooperative Extension Maine Farm and Seafood Products is maintaining a virtual map and spreadsheet. Maine Coast Fisherman's Association is maintaining a website as well as "Maine Seafood Connection" and "Maine Seafood Direct" Facebook groups. ​​Maine farmers and seafood producers: Add your business to UMaine's list/map!

New Hampshire Agriculture Relief Program

Registration Open for Specialty Crop Producers

The Governor has authorized the allocation and expenditure of $10 million in emergency funding from the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund to support New Hampshire dairy farmers, and specialty crop producers, including fruit, vegetable, and ornamental plant growers, and maple producers, with COVID-19 related expenses and lost revenues from March 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020.  Specifically, the Governor has authorized the allocation of $4.5 million to dairy farmers for milk price support; $1.5 million to specialty crop producers in order to ease the burden of substantial new COVID-19-related costs like extra cleaning and sanitizing, ensuring social distancing, and lost revenues; and $4 million for emergency grants to ensure stability in the food supply.  The New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food (“Agriculture”) will administer these programs.      

Specialty Crop Producers

Agriculture will determine the relief funding to be made to specialty crop producers, including fruit, vegetable, and ornamental plant growers, and maple producers on a quarterly basis, provided that the producer: (1) had at least $50,000 of calendar year 2019 gross sales; and (2) has incurred COVID-19-related expenses and/or lost revenue during the applicable quarter.  The $1.5 million allocation will be divided up based on historical sales.  Agriculture will require eligible producers to submit actual COVID-19-related expense and lost revenue information on a quarterly basis, and, upon review, will process relief funding payments based on each farmer’s quarterly proportional share.  Agriculture will require all eligible specialty crop producers who intend to apply for relief funding to first register for this program.  

The registration form is a mandatory prerequisite to later apply for relief funding under this program.  If a producer does not timely complete the online registration form, the producer cannot apply for relief.  More information about the application phase will be available soon.            

Registration is open June 8, 2020, and ends on June 22, 2020 at 11:59 PM.  Register here for the NH Agriculture COVID-19 Relief Program – Registration.

Agriculture’s Registration Fact Sheet is available here.

Dairy Farmers

Agriculture will determine the relief funding to be made to dairy farmers on a monthly basis, up to a total of $4.5 million.  Agriculture will calculate every dairy farmer’s COVID-19-related lost revenue from falling milk prices by comparing the price actually paid for milk shipped into the fluid milk market to the Agri-Mark Northeast Milk Price Forecasts, 2019-2020, dated February 28, 2020.  The lost revenue amount will be adjusted for: (1) insurance, by subtracting any payout if the dairy farmer had purchased insurance, or the premium amount that the dairy farmer would have paid had it purchased insurance; and (2) additional federal relief funding.  The monthly relief payment to each dairy farmer will be the dairy farmer’s lost revenue during the applicable month(s) adjusted for insurance and additional federal relief funding.  Agriculture will obtain this information and process payments automatically without the need for any formal request or application process.  Each dairy farmer, however, must submit a signed award agreement before receiving any relief funding.  The first payments will likely be made in June.  

More information about this program will be available soon.      

In addition, due to the uncertainty around the food supply, the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery (GOFERR) will reserve $4 million to make emergency grants should the need arise. In the event that Agriculture determines a specific industry requires support in order to continue production, GOFERR will work with Agriculture to administer aid to that industry consistent with CARES Act guidance.

https://www.goferr.nh.gov/covid-expenditures/nh-agriculture-grants 

Learn about the NH Center for Women and Enterprise and how they support small businesses. Chandra Reber, NH CWE Director, will discuss how
they support women and others looking to start and grow their business and how to access the programs and support available.

We will also talk with a client of the CWE, Molly McGregor - owner of 'Beadorable Designs,' and hear how she worked with the CWE and was able to apply for the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program to help keep her business operating during the pandemic.

Register Here

The NH SBDC, in partnership with the UNH Survey Center, developed the NH SBDC Business Resiliency Survey. The goal of the survey is to help economic development partners better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses throughout the Granite State. We need to hear from business owners, like you, to better understand your challenges and needs going forward. Your feedback will help determine future programming and service offerings. By leveraging the results of the survey, we can more effectively assist in the state's recovery and reopening efforts. This initiative is made possible through the support of well over 60 partner organizations and funds from the CARES Act. The Business Resiliency Survey is live and will be available through June 24. It should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Please click HERE to take the survey. Thank you in advance for your time and support. Together - with your input - we can help NH businesses better manage recovery, reopening, and future resiliency!

Applications for the NH Nonprofit Emergency Relief Fund grant program will open online on June 11, and the deadline for applications is June 25 at 4:00 pm.

The NH Nonprofit Emergency Relief Fund was established by Governor Chris Sununu through the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery (GOFERR). The State of New Hampshire will award grants from the allocated $60 million to help nonprofit organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority have partnered to administer this program.

More information about the application process, eligibility criteria, and upcoming informational webinars — to be hosted on June 11 and 15 — is available on the GOFERR website. Nonprofits are encouraged to complete an organizational profile as soon as possible. An online portal to complete the profile is also available at the GOFERR website. A completed profile is required as a first step to completing an application, and profiles may be completed before the application opens on June 11.

Grant funding is intended to reimburse the costs of business interruptions caused by required closures, and sustain nonprofits’ ability to contribute to the state’s recovery from the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. Grants will not be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis; all applications will be evaluated based on program criteria. To receive funding, organizations must be recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The NH Nonprofit Emergency Relief Fund program supports three purpose areas:

• Nonprofit organizations that mitigate the critical public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis for residents who rely on those organizations for critical services. This includes, but is not limited to, organizations providing essential human services.
• Nonprofit organizations that contribute to economic, cultural, and civic vitality. This includes, but is not limited to, arts organizations, nonprofit community development corporations, economic development organizations and technical assistance providers, organizations that provide safe outdoor places for people to recreate, community-based organizations that deliver timely and sometimes life-saving information about COVID-19, and civic organizations that unite people across differences to find solutions.
• Coalitions, networks, and collaboratives of nonprofit organizations that maximize cooperation and impact, and also speed the state’s distribution of funds to meet urgent needs.

The Federal Reserve Board on Monday expanded its Main Street Lending Program to allow more small and medium-sized businesses to be able to receive support. The Board lowered the minimum loan amount, raised the maximum loan limit, adjusted the principal repayment schedule to begin after two years, and extended the term to five years, providing borrowers with greater flexibility in repaying the loans. The Board expects the Main Street program to be open for lender registration soon and to be actively buying loans shortly afterwards.

"Supporting small and mid-sized businesses so they are ready to reopen and rehire workers will help foster a broad-based economic recovery," Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said. "I am confident the changes we are making will improve the ability of the Main Street Lending Program to support employment during this difficult period."

Small and medium-sized businesses are a vital part of the economy and employ tens of millions of people, and, because their needs vary widely, the Board has extensively sought feedback and revised the Main Street program accordingly.

The changes include:

• Lowering the minimum loan size for certain loans to $250,000 from $500,000;
• Increasing the maximum loan size for all facilities;
• Increasing the term of each loan option to five years, from four years;
• Extending the repayment period for all loans by delaying principal payments for two years, rather than one; and
• Raising the Reserve Bank's participation to 95% for all loans.

The chart below has additional details on the changes.

Once they have successfully registered for the program, lenders are encouraged to begin making Main Street loans immediately. The Main Street Lending Program intends to purchase 95% of each eligible loan that is submitted to the program, provided that the required documentation is complete and the transactions are consistent with the relevant Main Street facility's requirements. The Main Street Lending Program will also accept loans that were originated under the previously announced terms, if funded before June 10, 2020.

Nonprofit organizations play a critical role throughout the economy, and the Board is working to establish a program soon for these organizations.

The Main Street Lending Program was established with the approval of the Treasury Secretary and with $75 billion in equity provided by the Treasury Department from the CARES Act. Additional frequently asked questions and answers for lenders and borrowers are also available. The form participation agreement and other legal forms will be updated to align with the changes announced today.

Make Full Screen

Main Street Lending Program Loan Options	New Loans	Priority Loans	Expanded Loans
Term	5 years (previously 4 years)
Minimum Loan Size	$250,000 (previously $500,000)	$10M
Maximum Loan Size	The lesser of $35M, or an amount that, when added to outstanding and undrawn available debt, does not exceed 4.0x adjusted EBITDA (previously $25M)	The lesser of $50M, or an amount that, when added to outstanding or undrawn available debt, does not exceed 6.0x adjusted EBITDA (previously $25M)	The lesser of $300M, or an amount that, when added to outstanding or undrawn available debt, does not exceed 6.0x adjusted EBITDA (previously $200M)
Risk Retention	5%	5% (previously 15%)	5%
Principal Repayment	Principal deferred for two years, years 3-5: 15%, 15%, 70% (previously principal deferred for one year and 33.33% repayment due in years 2-4)	Principal deferred for two years, years 3-5: 15%, 15%, 70% (previously principal deferred for one year and 15%, 15%, 70% repayment due in years 2, 3, and 4, respectively)
Interest Payments	Deferred for one year
Rate	LIBOR + 3%

For media inquiries, call 202-452-2955

Related Content

• Board Votes
• Main Street Lending Program

Last Update: June 09, 2020

June 10, 2020

As the State continues to respond to COVID-19, Governor Janet Mills today extended the State of Civil Emergency for thirty days through July 10, 2020.

According to the National Governors Association, nearly every state in the nation has ongoing emergency declarations. Last Friday, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu renewed his State of Emergency as well. This will be Governor Mills’ third extension of the State of Civil Emergency. Under Maine law, State of Civil Emergency Proclamations may only be issued in thirty day increments.

“It is important for all of us to remember that this dangerous, highly contagious and untreatable virus is still all around us,” said Governor Mills. “As Maine continues to reopen and more people begin to interact, we must remain vigilant and follow public health guidelines, such as wearing face coverings, staying six feet apart whenever possible and washing our hands frequently, to protect ourselves and others. In the meantime, our Administration will do all we can to continue to safeguard public health and support our economic recovery.”

A State of Civil Emergency allows the State to continue to draw down critical Federal resources and to deploy all available resources to respond to COVID-19.