The Mesa County 5-star program has kept hundreds of businesses across the county open through this pandemic and, as other counties across the state look to adopt similar programs, those that helped create it say its the “unique partnership” between health officials and the business community that paved the way for its success.
“When Jeff (Mesa County Public Health Executive Director Jeff Kuhr) and I sat down on ways to help businesses in Mesa County, it was really just a five- to 10-minute conversation,” said Diane Schwenke, CEO and president of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce.
She said initially their vision was to do something similar to the Blue Ribbon Restaurant program, in which businesses would be recognized for implementing safe practices recommended by health officials.
The county launched the program over the summer in the hopes of connecting business owners with the health officials who needed to inspect their businesses. To qualify, businesses had to enact strict compliance rules, such as requiring mask wearing and limiting the number of patrons inside, and receive certification from Public Health.
“Before the pandemic, I’m sure a lot of business owners in the community didn’t know who the local health director was,” Schwenke said. “I’m very proud that we were proactive and came up with something unique that serves the citizens, businesses and employees of Mesa County. In Mesa County, we know how to lead.”
In a letter sent to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis last month, the Board of Douglas County Commissioners asked to be allowed to use a similar program in Douglas County. Similarly, lawmakers in Larimer County want to implement the Mesa County program, the Colorado Sun reports.
“Mesa County is at the forefront of finding solutions to keep business open even if they have moved to level red. We need to protect businesses in Larimer County, and thanks to the innovation in Mesa County, we have a blueprint in front of us that Larimer County needs to implement,” Sen. Rob Woodward (R-Loveland) told the Sun.
Schwenke said there has been interest in the program from across the state, which helps to “validate that Mesa County was on the right track.”
“I think both Kuhr and I have been getting quite a few calls and emails. I know I personally have had conversations (with my counterparts in other counties), and there is a lot of interest in the program across the state,” she said.
Schwenke said she’s hearing that Utah might look at something similar.
“We’re getting a lot of interest in it, which is really cool. We have been able to lead the way and create a program that balances all aspects of health including keeping your job,” she said.
Since the pandemic started, Schwenke said health officials have been focused on keeping businesses open in Mesa County and have realized that closing down restaurants, salons and places that people work every day isn’t necessarily good for the economic health of Mesa County either.
“We did a Zoom call with the Colorado restaurant association, and Kuhr said he views his role as health director not just by the physical and population health of the county, but by the mental and economic health of its citizens as well,” she said.
Schwenke has been pleased with how Kuhr has taken a holistic approach to the county’s health and realizes that shutting down businesses and putting people back in their homes may not be the right answer.
She also felt that the numbers showed that the program isn’t responsible for Mesa County’s COVID spikes.
While triple-digit COVID cases still being reported to Mesa County Public Health (even though Monday was at 72 new cases), few of those new cases have been attributed to an exposure at a local business. In fact, according to the Mesa County COVID-19 dashboard, as of Sunday, none of the more than 1,600 new COVID cases from the previous two weeks were due to an exposure from a local business.
Just 1.1% of the county’s cumulative total have been due to exposure from individuals who visited a local business.
“When you look at case counts and where people are getting the virus … businesses being opened hasn’t led to the spike in cases … it’s not from (patronizing) businesses,” Schwenke said.
The program has also been a great help in getting customers back into doors who were hesitant to do so, Schwenke said.
“Just because you’re open, doesn’t mean people will feel safe, so doing this, getting that 5-star certificate, could be used to market to customers,” she said.
Members of the public are reportedly routinely calling the chamber to get updates on which businesses have become Five Star-certified.
“On occasion we will hear from a business that they haven’t seen a certain customer since last February and they got a 5-star certificate, and that customer was back the very next week,” Schwenke said.
"five" - Google News
December 15, 2020 at 02:15PM
https://ift.tt/3mkLK34
Five Star program gets statewide kudos - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
"five" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YnPDf8
https://ift.tt/2SxXq6o
No comments:
Post a Comment