Stronger Together
This new section of our website is to provide our community with the most current information on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and to provide a full range of resources available to businesses as they adapt in these changing times.
As always, the Hancock Chamber of Commerce will follow any recommendations set forth by the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency. They are activated at this time, and will remain active as long as they feel it is appropriate to keep our community safe. We call into the Emergency Operations Center for their daily updates, and will share any essential information on this page. For the latest updates from Hancock County EMA, please refer to their website: https://www.hancockcounty.ms.gov.
Health Information
Ochsner Medical Center – Hancock: https://www.ochsner.org/coronavirus
Mississippi State Department of Health: https://msdh.ms.gov
Centers for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov
Memorial Hospital: http://www.gulfportmemorial.com/
Local test site: Memorial Drinkwater Internal Medicine Walk-In Clinic at 300 Drinkwater Rd, Bay St. Louis. **Patients who would like to be tested should contact their Primary Care Physician FIRST, as procedures vary. More information: Testing Request Procedures**
Other Test Facilities: Testing Facilities
BUSINESS RESOURCES
UNEMPLOYMENT
The Mississippi Department of Economic Security has made the application for unemployment insurance form available for download. Once complete, applicants should email it to their local unemployment office for processing and a representative will contact them. The form and email addresses are below.
Unemployment Claim Form 3-23-18
pascagoulajobcenter@mdes.ms.gov
hancockcountyjobcenter@mdes.ms.gov
CARES ACT // SBA LOANS // PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Department of the Treasury have released some helpful guides and checklists which are available for download below.
We will continue to share other resources from the U.S. Chamber that will be helpful in getting our business owners through these tough times.
US Chamber Guide for Independent Contractors/Self Employed
US Chamber Small Business ELA Loan Guide
US Chamber Employee Retention Tax Credit Guide
US Chamber Paycheck Protection Program Guide
Paycheck-Protection-Program-Application-3-30-2020-v3
PPP Borrower Information Fact Sheet
PPP Lender Information Fact Sheet
GRANTS
Mississippi Power’s Project Share
Mississippi Power, through its Foundation, will commit $350,000 to assist South Mississippi residents, local charities and small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Catholic Charities is administering this fund. Please call them at 228-701-0555 to learn how to apply. It is open to Small business with 50 employees or less and individuals who are customers and can demonstrate a financial need to help with their power bill. They are open Monday – Thursday from 9am – 4pm. You will more than likely need to leave a message and they will get back to you before the end of the day to help you through the process. Read the full press release here.
Coast Electric’s Operation Roundup
Any organization in Coast Electric’s service area can apply for funding. Based on the Community Trust guidelines, nonprofit, community, volunteer, educational or civic organizations that generally qualify as exempt under 501(c)(3) may apply for grants. Grants will be awarded quarterly. In 2020, applications will only be accepted during the months of March, June, September and December. Applications will only be accepted online. Click here for more information. If you have further questions about this program, please contact the Gulf Coast Community Foundation at (228) 897-4841.
National Restaurant Association Restaurant Employee Relief Fund
The Restaurant Employee Relief Fund (“Fund”) was created to help restaurant industry employees experiencing extraordinary hardship in the wake of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. Through this Fund, grants will be made to restaurant industry employees who have been impacted by COVID-19, including a decrease in wages or loss of employment. Grants will be awarded as soon as possible to those individuals who meet the prescribed eligibility criteria, as reviewed and verified by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF). This Fund is operated by the NRAEF, whose mission is to attract, empower and advance today’s and tomorrow’s restaurant and foodservice workers. Click here for more information.
US SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Hancock County businesses are now eligible to apply for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) under Declaration 16351. EIDL Loans have been expanded to include up to a $10,000 emergency advance. Click here to apply: https://covid19relief.sba.gov/#/
US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Hancock Chamber is a US Chamber Affiliate, and we are glad to pass their resources along to our members. Visit their website: https://www.uschamber.com.
Closures
April 27th – Mississippi has officially moved to a Safer at Home Order.
Read the Full Executive Order 1477
April 1st – Governor Reeves has signed Executive Order 1466, which expands EO 1463 and includes a Shelter in Place Order. Read the full order: Executive Order 1466
Shelter in Place FAQ 2
March 24th – MS Governor Tate Reeves has signed Executive Order 1463, declaring a state of emergency for Mississippi, prohibiting gatherings of 10 or more as well as onsite dining statewide, calling for all state agencies to suspend operations or go remote except in the case of essential services and prohibiting people from visiting hospitals and nursing homes unless their are there to give or receive medical treatment. Read the full order: http://ow.ly/z3Cs50yUW5q
March 21st – The Hancock County Board of Supervisors passed a join resolution with the Cities of Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead and Waveland which will temporarily suspend onsite dining. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are still permitted. This will go into effect at 8 PM tonight, 3/21/20 in Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead and Hancock County and at 11:59 PM in Waveland. The resolutions are available for download below:
20200321 – Emergency Mayoral Proclamation City of BSL
20200321 – Emergency Proclation temporarily closing establishments and prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people
20200321 – Emergency Resolution of City of Diamondhead
20200321 – Joint Resolution with Cities of BSL, Diamondhead, and Waveland
20200321 – Emergency Mayoral Proclamation City of Waveland and Press Release
FOR THOSE IN NEED
Elderly
Any elderly person who is in need of food or paper products is welcome to contact Kristine at Gurley & Associates, LLC at (228) 493 – 2028 for help.
Hancock County Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Hotline for Hancock County (228) 467 – 9073. Contact them to partner in offering assistance to our seniors and those with disabilities.
Children
The Bay-Waveland School District is offering meals to children (ages 18 & under) from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. They will be given a lunch and a breakfast for the following day. Pickup sites are Bay High and Waveland Elementary. Meals will be brought out to your car. You DO NOT have to be a Bay – Waveland student to participate. No ID required. The school district requests that you fill out this form so they will know how much food to prepare by clicking here.
The Hancock County School District will be offering free lunches to children ages 18 and under starting March 23 until further notice. Lunches may be picked up at South Hancock Elementary and Hancock North Central Elementary between 11 a.m. and 12 noon. Meals will be distributed by drive-thru “Grab-n-Go” as vehicles proceed through the bus lanes. Children must be present in the vehicle to receive a meal. Children do not need to be a Hancock County School District student to participate. For more, call the school district at 228-255-0376.
Additional Resources
The Hancock Resouce Center offers assistance to those in need in a variety of categories. Please visit their website to learn more about this organization by clicking here and download their Community Resource Guide at the link below.
Hancock County Community Services Jan-Mar 2020
Printable COVID-19 Posters for Employers
CDC Recomendations for Employers
COVID 10 Prevention and Preparedness
Fight COVID19 Poster Vietnamese
Remote Working Tools
ACCOUNTING
QUICKBOOKS ONLINE – $12-75
Services Provided: Information Storage/Sharing | Project Management | Security/Encryption
GUSTO – $6-12/PER USER
Services Provided: Information Storage/Sharing | Project Management | Security/Encryption
ALL-INCLUSIVE
GOOGLE SUITE/HANGOUTS – $6-25/PER USER*
Services Provided: Video Conferencing | Audio/Phone | Instant Messaging | Information Storage/Sharing | Project Management | Security/Encryption
*In response to COVID-19 through July 1: free access to our advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities to all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers globally including larger meetings, for up to 250 participants per call, live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers within a domain, and the ability to record meetings and save them to Google Drive
OFFICE 365/TEAMS – $0-12.50/PER USER*
Services Provided: Video Conferencing | Instant Messaging | Information Storage/Sharing | Project Management | Security/Encryption
*In response to COVID-19: Beginning March 10, Microsoft is rolling out updates to the free version of Teams that will lift restrictions on user limits.
COMMUNICATION
ZOOM – $0-19.99*
Services Provided: Video Conferencing | Web Conferencing/Webinar | Security/Encryption
In response to COVID-19: free for educators to move toward virtual learning
ZOOM PHONE – $14.99
Services Provided: Audio/Phone | Security/Encryption
SLACK – $0-12.50
Services Provided: Video Conferencing | Instant Messaging | Information Storage/Sharing | Security/Encryption
LOOM – $0-5/PER USER*
Services Provided: Video Conferencing | Web Conferencing/Webinar |Instant Messaging
*In response to COVID-19 through July 1: free for educators, recording limit removed on the free plan, free trial extended to 30 days, Loom Pro price adjusted to $5/month
RING CENTRAL – $24.99-49.99 PER USER*
Services Provided: Video Conferencing | Web Conferencing/Webinar | Audio/Phone | Instant Messaging
*In response to COVID-19: Three months free RingCentral Office for K12 educators, health providers and non-profits
GOTOMEETING – $12-16/PER USER*
Services Provided: Video Conferencing | Web Conferencing/Webinar | Audio/Phone | Instant Messaging
*In response to COVID-19: some organizations may be eligible for access to free emergency remote work toolkit. Can register here.
CRM
LIVE AGENT – $0-39/PER USER
Services Provided: Project Management
INFORMATION SERVICES
DROPBOX BUSINESS – $12.50-20/PER USER*
Services Provided: Information Storage/Sharing | Security/Encryption
*In response to COVID-19: Free Dropbox Business subscriptions for a three-month period to nonprofits and NGOs that are focused on fighting COVID-19
GENIUS SCAN – $0
Services Provided: Information Storage/Sharing
Phone app for scanning/sending documents
TINY SCANNER – $0
Services Provided: Information Storage/Sharing
Phone app for scanning/sending documents
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
TRELLO – $0-20.83/PER USER
Services Provided: Information Storage/Sharing | Project Management | Security/Encryption
ASANA PROJECT MANAGEMENT – $0-24.99/PER USER
Services Provided: Information Storage/Sharing | Project Management
SCHEDULING
ACUITY – $0-50
Services Provided: Project Management