IMC’s Manufacturer Return to Operations & Best Practice Guide is now available! Gain insights for restarting your operations safely and efficiently and discover best practices in minimizing COVID-19 risks among your workforce. Thanks to our sister center NEPIRC for putting this guide together and for offering it to IMC and our manufacturers!

Gov. Wolf Provides Business Guidance as Counties Move to Yellow Phase on May 8 – Click here for Governor’s Guide.

For support on implementing either of these guides, contact your IMC Business Advisor or email info@imcpa.com.

Williamsport City Mayor Derek Slaughter has created an advisory board to help to mitigate hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mayor’s Advisory Board on COVID-19 consists of key stakeholders the mayor selected from among the health care, business, government and public and private sectors.

“In response to the needs of the greater community, I created the Mayor’s COVID-19 Advisory Board. This board of key stakeholders will identify the impact, needs and a path forward for Williamsport. The board will determine how the City can best respond and assist as we navigate COVID both in the short-term and long-term. Their advice will help guide us, help the City make the necessary changes it may need to make and help this administration find the extra resources to do the work.” stated Mayor Derek Slaughter.

The board includes Mayor Slaughter; Steven P. Johnson, CEO and president of UPMC Susquehanna; Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour, president of Pennsylvania College of Technology; Kent C. Trachte, president of Lycoming College; Jason Fink, president/CEO of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce; Jennifer Wilson, president/CEO of First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania; Shannon Rossman, executive director of Lycoming County Planning; Dan Manetta, executive director of the Innovative Manufacturers’ Center (IMC); Beth Armanda, president of the Williamsport Business Association, Small Businesses/Restaurants; Damon Hagan, chief of the Williamsport Bureau of Police; Stephanie Young, director City Community Development; Joseph Pawlak, city budget and fiscal officer; Nicholas Grimes, city treasurer; Tim Bowers, superintendent, Williamsport Area School District; Ron Frick, president of Lycoming United Way and Williamsport City Councilman Adam Yoder.

Data Papers, Inc. in Muncy, PA developed an assortment of policies / procedures relative to employee health and safety and regulatory compliance for their facility as they get back to semi-normal operations and offered IMC to share these with the manufacturing community.

Thanks to Jerry Wertz and the team at Data Papers, Inc.!

C19-003a Freq Touched Area Cleaning Checklist DP

C19-003 Cleaning Procedure for Freq Touched Areas DP

C19-002 DPI Employee Working Procedure DP

C19-001 Probable or Confirmed Diagnosis DP

WEDnetPA and the PA Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) want to help your company navigate the weeks and months ahead and want to ease concerns regarding the impact of COVID-19 on this year’s training grants and next year’s program eligibility. To ensure we provide maximum support to all companies currently participating in WEDnetPA, we want to make you aware of the following policies that have been implemented:

• Any trainings that cannot be completed by June 30th can be completed and submitted next year. After June 1st, your company will need to apply for a new FY20-21 grant to submit the training for reimbursement.
• All companies with training grants this year will be able to apply again next year, even if your company is technically ineligible based on funding history.
• If you plan to apply again next year and the WEDnetPA online system indicates you are ineligible, contact your local WEDnetPA Coordinator for assistance.

For additional information on WEDnetPA funding, opportunities, or training, visit http://wednetpa.com/.

With the on-going need for PPE and other critical medical supplies, the Wolf administration has launched a Manufacturing Call to Action portal, with the intent to:

• Match Pennsylvania manufacturers and distributors to fill specific supply chain needs to meet increasing demands for medical supplies and related products.
• Assist Pennsylvania manufacturers who have workforce needs or gaps and assist them with identifying skilled workers.
• Identify Pennsylvania manufacturers who can pivot or innovate to fulfill the demand for medical supplies and related products.

The administration welcomes manufacturers as described above with a Pennsylvania presence to inform the state of capabilities, needs, gaps or potential innovative solutions. To submit information, visit https://spportal.dot.pa.gov/ppeinventory/pages/mschain.aspx.

The Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce is helping to identify and coordinate possible resources in our region from those businesses that may be able to assist with the effort. The specific needs are associated with the production of ventilators. If your business is capable of providing any of the following items, please email Jason Fink at jfink@williamsport.org or call 570-320-4213.

Should you know of a company in the region that may have any of the capabilities, please forward it along to them to review. The Chamber will be compiling a list to forward on in coordination of a regional network being developed to address this specific health device need.

• 3D printing capabilities you know of, including contact information
• Suppliers who could source materials for ventilators (specific items are still being determined as to what is required)
• Engineers who could consult on a project like this
• Businesses/owners who could be part of a distribution chain – packaging, shipping, etc.
• Anything else that could be helpful for production of ventilators

If you have been designated “non-essential” as a result of Governor Wolf’s announcement on March 19th, you can request a closure waiver at: RA-dcexemption@pa.gov.

You can also contact the Administration with questions about whether you need to close at: ra-dcedcs@pa.gov.

Click here for Governor Wolf’s Classification List of Life Sustaining Businesses PDF.

We received an urgent request from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) on behalf of the White House seeking manufacturers that can produce critically needed supplies for the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you strongly consider taking this survey or helping to contact your members and/or clients asking them to complete.

Critical supplies include:
· cotton swabs with long wooden sticks
· endotracheal tubes
· falcon tubes
· gloves
· lightweight protective suits
· N95 masks
· over-the-shoe booties
· PAPRs
· rapid PCR test kits
· ventilators
· vital sign monitors
· viral transport media

IMC has had several phone calls since yesterday from manufacturers asking if they were considered essential or nonessential. You ARE essential and we are here to serve you. Let us know how we can help!

“Essential services and sectors include but are not limited to food processing, agriculture, industrial manufacturing, feed mills, construction, trash collection, grocery and household goods (including convenience stores), home repair/hardware and auto repair, pharmacy and other medical facilities, biomedical and healthcare, post offices and shipping outlets, insurance, banks, gas stations, laundromats, veterinary clinics and pet stores, warehousing, storage, and distribution, public transportation, and hotel and commercial lodging.”

Learn more at https://www.health.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx