Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Dennis Davin reminded restaurants that the self-certification process begins on September 21. Through this process, restaurants may increase indoor occupancy to 50 percent and instill in customers and employees confidence that they can dine safely.

“Self-certifying your establishment shows your employees and customers that you care about their health and well-being, and demonstrates your commitment to helping mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the commonwealth,” Davin said. “This process is a simple, commonsense way for restaurants to increase their capacity and put themselves on the path to financial recovery, all while taking the necessary steps to protect their communities.”

Social distancing, masking and other mitigation measures must be employed to protect workers and patrons.

Restaurants that self-certify will appear in an Open & Certified Pennsylvania searchable online database of certified restaurants across the commonwealth and will receive Open & Certified Pennsylvania branded materials, such as window clings and other signage designating their certification, which they can display for customers and employees.

Restaurants must complete the online self-certification process by October 5. Business owners should keep a copy of the self-certification confirmation they will receive by e-mail. The self-certification will be used as part of ongoing enforcement efforts conducted by Department of Agriculture and Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, and will be shared with the departments of State, Labor & Industry and Health, and other enforcement agencies.

The Wolf Administration has released Frequently Asked Questions as a reference for restaurant owners and the public, along with updated restaurant guidance.

Restaurants operating at 50 percent capacity will have their self-certification status checked as part of ongoing enforcement by these agencies starting on October 5.

Restaurant owners with additional questions about the self-certification program can contact covidselfcert@pa.gov

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf called on the General Assembly to provide additional funding for the COVID-19 Hazard Pay Program to support front-line workers risking their health to continue working in life-sustaining industries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Pennsylvanians who work front-line, essential jobs during this pandemic deserve our gratitude and our respect, but even more, they deserve compensation for their hard work. The COVID-19 Hazard Pay Grant Program was created to keep front-line employees working in vital industry sectors and to compensate workers appropriately for the additional hazards their jobs entail during a pandemic,” Gov. Wolf said. “The overwhelming response we received for this program shows a clear need for additional hazard pay funding, and so I am calling on the General Assembly to allocate additional and much-needed funds so that we can further support workers who put their health on the line to keep life-sustaining services operating for all of us.”

As part of his fall legislative agenda, Gov. Wolf is calling on the General Assembly to provide an additional $225 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to the state’s COVID-19 Hazard Pay Program, a reimbursement-based grant that was announced in July to help employers provide hazard pay to employees in life-sustaining occupations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), which administered the program, received more than 10,000 applications totaling nearly $900 million, of which more than 5,000 businesses requesting $300 million were eligible. Of those, 639 employers were awarded $50 million, supporting a $3 per hour increase in pay for 41,587 workers across eligible industries.

“The COVID-19 Hazard Pay Grant Program is one way we can give back to employees in critical industries, because we know that these workers didn’t stop when COVID-19 appeared in the commonwealth. They continued to show up and help each and every day. From health care to food retail and manufacturing, security, and transportation — these are just a few examples of the industries and the people being helped by these grants,” Davin said. “However, it can’t be overlooked that thousands of Pennsylvania businesses applied for and deserved this funding. There is immense need for more resources, more assistance, more grant dollars — and the Wolf Administration is committed to finding additional avenues of support for Pennsylvania’s front-line workers.”

The governor was joined at a news conference today by the Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC, as well as business advocates, business owners and elected officials.

CREDC is a DCED Certified Economic Development Organization (CEDO), which allows it to administer DCED loan programs, including the COVID-19 Hazard Pay Program. CREDC applied for the program on behalf of 25 local employers. Of those 25, three Harrisburg-area employers were awarded hazard pay funding for their employees — Facility Concierge Services, a commercial service; Mom Foods Inc., a small grocery store; and Eisenhower Inc., a convenience store.

Gov. Wolf also supports the Heroes Fund, in the bi-partisan Federal HEROES Act, which would provide $200 billion in hazard pay to life-sustaining workers.

As part of Pennsylvania Governor Wolf’s Administration’s ongoing efforts to ensure public health and safety and support economic recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine today signed new orders following the recent announcement that restaurants may increase indoor occupancy to 50 percent starting Monday, September 21. The order requires that serving alcohol for on-site consumption must end at 11:00 PM starting on Monday, September 21 and all alcoholic beverages must be removed from patrons by midnight. This applies to both restaurants that do not self-certify to increase to 50 percent and those that choose to stay at 25 percent. There is no change to the requirements for the temporary sale of cocktails-to-go and take out alcohol sales from bars, restaurants or hotels with a liquor license.

“As we continue to take critical steps to continue to mitigate the spread of COVI-19, we also recognize that this pandemic has taken a significant toll on the food services industry, so we must balance public health and economic recovery,” Gov. Wolf said. “These orders give restaurants the ability to increase indoor occupancy safely while giving customers confidence when deciding to patronize a restaurant.”

The recently announced self-certification process will enable restaurants to increase indoor occupancy to 50 percent while adhering to mitigation efforts that will keep employees and customers safe. Starting September 21, restaurants can begin submitting their self-certification documents to an Open & Certified Pennsylvania database. ​

Restaurants that self-certify will appear in an Open & Certified Pennsylvania searchable online database of certified restaurants across the commonwealth and will receive Open & Certified Pennsylvania branded materials, such as window clings and other signage designating their certification, which they can display for customers and employees.

The self-certification documents and information about the Open & Certified Pennsylvania program will be available online on September 21 and will contain the following:

• A list of requirements contained in the current restaurant industry guidance and enforcement efforts;
• A statement that the owner has reviewed and agrees to follow these requirements;
• The business’ maximum indoor occupancy number based on the fire code; and
• A statement that the owner understands that the certification is subject to penalties for unsworn falsification to authorities.

Restaurants should complete the online self-certification process by October 5 when enforcement relative to 50 percent occupancy will begin. Self-certification will still be available after October 5.

Business owners should keep a copy of the self-certification confirmation they will receive by e-mail. The self-certification will be used as part of ongoing enforcement efforts conducted by Department of Agriculture and Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, and will be shared with the departments of State, Labor & Industry and Health, and other enforcement agencies.

Self-certifying will not lead to additional inspections. The occurrence of regularly scheduled or complaint-based inspections from enforcement agencies will not be affected by certification status. In fact, certifying proves that a business is committed to protecting employees and providing patrons a safe dining experience. Any health and safety violations from self-certified businesses will be handled first with warnings and education rather than fines or other penalties.

The Wolf Administration has released Frequently Asked Questions as a reference for restaurant owners and the public, along with updated restaurant guidance.

Restaurant owners with additional questions about the self-certification program can contact covidselfcert@pa.gov.

Governor Wolf Order
Secretary of Health Order 

At Karimar Grocery in Franklin County today, Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin announced that more than 100 projects, funding access for fresh food in low-income communities, have received grants through Pennsylvania’s $10 million Fresh Food Financing Initiative.

“There are three keys to food security — Is food available, is food affordable, and is food safe?” said Redding. “The Fresh Food Financing Initiative helps make ‘yes’ the answer to all three questions. Early in the pandemic, we were all shocked by the empty grocery store shelves. This program has given us the ability to offset the costs food retailers have incurred in making fresh, nutritious food available while safeguarding their employees and customers.”

The Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) was funded at $10 million through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and opened in July to for-profit, nonprofit, or cooperative entities including grocery stores, corner stores, convenience stores, neighborhood markets, bodegas, food hubs, mobile markets, farmers markets, on-farm markets, urban farms, and food aggregation centers with a direct connection to direct-to-consumer retail outlets.

To be eligible, more than 70 percent of sales were required to be from staple, perishable foods to consumers and the retailer must serve customers who live in a low-to-moderate income area. Applicants were also required to demonstrate limited food access as a result of COVID-19 or that direct-to-consumer retail expansion is necessary due to lost or disrupted markets. Eligible applicants were required to accept SNAP and WIC or have plans to accept them through completion of the project.

“The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the challenges that many Pennsylvanians face in accessing fresh, local food,” said Davin. “The Fresh Food Financing Initiative was developed to ensure that no one in our commonwealth will struggle to fill their pantry and the food supply chain will remain stable, whether during a crisis, emergency, or during times of normalcy.”

Karimar Grocery, a minority, woman-owned neighborhood store in Chambersburg, experienced increased demand for perishable and staple food products throughout the pandemic. Their $55,000 grant will fund the purchase of equipment – such as refrigerators, freezers, coolers, and a meat grinder – to allow them to store more fresh meat, dairy, and produce and will cover expenditures already made to create a safe, healthy shopping environment in the low-income, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community they serve.

“It is important to keep residents of the commonwealth safe and informed. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the Latino community, placing this population at a greater disadvantage,” said Luz B. Colón, executive director to the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs. “Programs like the Fresh Food Financing Initiative help secure food resources to our minority communities and ensure that it will reach the families that need it the most.”

The $10 million FFFI grant program funded 115 projects in 39 counties. The projects fund expenses related to PPE and other in-store COVID-19 mitigation efforts, expansions, refrigeration, online marketing materials, mobile market enhancements, and more.

A full list of funded projects can be found online. Applicants could apply for impacts related to COVID-19 incurred between March 1, 2020 and November 30, 2020, such as:

• Higher operating costs related to cleaning and social distancing requirements, including costs related to outside contracting associated with managing social distancing, limited occupancy, and cleaning;
• Infrastructure improvements, including renovation, new construction, or adaptive reuse directly related to COVID-19;
• Equipment purchases that improve the availability of quality fresh food, such as additional refrigeration to manage volume, or personal protective equipment such as plexiglass dividers;
• Inventory (higher cost of goods, higher transportation or delivery costs, or procuring Pennsylvania-grown produce, meat, and dairy products, or loss of product);
• Innovative food access technology such as mobile or pop-up markets, or mobile EBT reader technology;
• Costs to expand access to Pennsylvania grown or processed produce, dairy, and meat products or provide stable market access for Pennsylvania farmers that have lost or limited markets; and
• Other one-time or increased expenses incurred related to COVID-19.

For more information on the Fresh Food Financing Initiative or about the Wolf Administration’s efforts surrounding food security, visit agriculture.pa.gov. For information as it relates to agriculture during COVID-19 mitigation in Pennsylvania visit agriculture.pa.gov/COVID. For the most accurate, timely information related to health in Pennsylvania, visit on.pa.gov/coronavirus.

In September’s session of the Rural Health Resources Roundup Series, CAPT Renee Joskow talks about the Rural Healthcare Surge Readiness Web Portal. The portal provides key and essential resources, tools, and training to prepare for and respond to COVID-19 in rural communities. It was developed by the Federal Healthcare Resilience Working Group and the Rural Surge Readiness Team.

Listen to the Rural Healthcare Surge Readiness Web Portal session.