WHEREAS, COVID-19 has resulted in significant economic impact, including loss of income
and wages, that threaten to undermine housing security and stability

Last week the govorner of Illinois released an Executive Order known as the Executive Order in response to Covid-19, or Gov. Pritzker’s Stay at Home Order.

This release may not affect us directly here in Washington County, but it does deserve some reflection.

Being a Commercial Photographer, I have to be concerned whether my business will be allowed to continue, should Maryland’s Gov. Hogan choose a similar tact in closing down our economic well being.

Regardless of what business you are in, it is a scary time to be an entrepreneur. The Stay at Home Order in Illinois states, “All businesses and operations in the State, except Essential Businesses and Operations as defined below, are required to cease all activities within the State except Minimum Basic Operations.

What exactly does Minimum Basic Operations mean, and what are considered Essential Businesses?

As with most legislation that is written in a hurry, there are a lot of gray areas in this document. For one thing, Minimum Operations are defined as:

a. The minimum necessary activities to maintain the value of the business’s
inventory, preserve the condition of the business’s physical plant and equipment,
ensure security, process payroll and employee benefits, or for related functions.
b. The minimum necessary activities to facilitate employees of the business being
able to continue to work remotely from their residences.

Who decides what maintaining the value of a businesses inventory means? Are workers are their wages included in that inventory? And if your workers are able to work from home and the business must facilitate those needs, does that include supplying the equipment to those employees?

As important as these questions are, the true importance of this document, to those businesses here in Hagerstown, is what businesses are considered essential. The reason this is important to us is because if a Stay at Home Policy is being written here, rather than the general self-quarantine rules that we have been given, then the policy is likely to be plagiarized from the policies that other states have already put in place.

The obvious Essential Businesses are Hospitals, all first responders such as Firefighters, emergency dispatchers and Law Enforcement.

Some of the other, not so obvious, essentials are Gas Stations, Grocery Stores and any business that support Essential Infrastructure.

This includes businesses such as Real Estate Offices, Construction, Plumbing, and any business that supports the maintainance of those other Essential Businesses named above.

To see the entire Executive Order Click Here

So for our Photography Business, according to this order, we are in a safe zone. We clearly support other businesses whether through Real Estate Photography, Commercial Photography, or Drone Photography to include inspections and construction site progression.

We can help you decide what the best strategy for your business is in these questionable times. Contact us for a free business consultation.

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