Greetings:

As we continue to move toward a reopening of our economies, please hold the health and safety of your customers, employees and our communities in the highest regard. 

​

While government and business leaders talk of allowing certain business types to open again, there is so far little in the way of requirements that are needed to operate. We found this set of guidelines to be extremely helpful in sparking thoughts on how to operate in the post-outbreak travel landscape. It was crafted by travel industry leaders and infectious disease professionals. While it was released by the U.S. Travel Association, we think the guidelines are insightful for tourism businesses on both sides of the border. US Travel's Travel in the New Normal

Business Assistance Programs

For New York operators, the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce has developed an easily digestible webpage of federal, state and local resources. That page can be found here. For help navigating the programs and getting up-to-date information such as which banks are executing federal CARES Act programs, we recommend contacting the Small Business Development Center at Jefferson Community College.

On the Ontario side, the Leeds Grenville Economic Development Office is a good source for questions on assistance programs as well as which businesses can operate. Staff there is working remotely, so we recommend email outreach to the staff addresses listed on that page or leaving voicemails on their lines to that they can get back to you.