VAMA stresses the importance of its role in Government Affairs and acting on behalf of its members to advocate for industry matters. One way to ensure that VAMA stays informed on issues that may affect our industry is to continue our relationship with our Legislative Consultant, Jeff Smith.

Jeff Smith, III, The Smith Group, Inc.
4900 Augusta Avenue, Ste. 101
Richmond, VA 23230 
Phone: 804-353-2322

COVID-19 CRISIS UPDATE

NAMA Urges Safely Reopening Employee Breakrooms

NAMA is working to ensure vending machines, micro markets, office coffee, tea, water, and pantry service can continue to operate in employee breakrooms across the nation.

Click here to take action and send a message to your state elected officials urging the safe reopening breakrooms. Sending your emails through our system is simple.  Just enter your contact information and click send.  The text of the message has already been drafted by NAMA. We also encourage you to share this link with your colleagues as well. 



As you know, on-site vending machines, micro markets, office coffee/tea/water services, and pantry service in employee breakrooms offer employees a safe and effective way to purchase lunches, snacks, and beverages in a contactless, controlled manner. Breakrooms promote social distancing and eliminate the need for employees to travel offsite – engaging in additional interpersonal contact and increasing the risk of exposing colleagues to an outside environment.

Business Task Force Created to Guide Strategy For Easing Restrictions

Northam creates COVID-19 Business Task Force to guide strategy for easing restrictions

RICHMOND, Va. – Governor Ralph Northam announced the creation of the COVID-19 Business Task Force, which will provide advice and guidance to the administration on a “safe and responsible” strategy for easing restrictions on businesses and individuals.

READ NOW: "Forward Virginia Blueprint" presentation

The task force consists of representatives from a variety of Virginia industries, including restaurants, breweries, wineries, small and large retailers, fitness centers, hair salons, barber shops, spas and estheticians, museums, hospitality groups, campgrounds, and entertainment venues.

Click Here for VA's COVID-19 Business Task Force Members

“These are Virginians who are thinking everyday about how to protect the health of their staff and the communities in which they operate,” said Governor Northam. “They understand that our public health and business interests are aligned—we must take measures that both ensure the safety and confidence of consumers and prevent the spread of disease. Their input will continue to be critical as we plan a safe, consistent, successful path forward.”
Additionally, Northam says his administration have continued to consult with numerous businesses, labor, public health, trade, and professional organizations.

Northam says he will outline a blueprint for easing business restrictions at his press conference Friday afternoon. That blueprint will include a plan with a phased approach that is grounded in federal CDC guidelines, and includes specific goals to contain the spread of the virus through increased testing, contact tracing, and ensuring adequate medical capacity.

NAMA Sends Governors Letter Outlining
Social Distancing Protocols for Office Breakrooms

Click here to find a letter that NAMA sent to all 50 Governors encouraging them to consider social distancing protocols for office breakrooms that allow them to safely operate when re-opening their states for business. The letter includes proposed language that Governors can easily include in re-opening orders and/or guidance. This is part of our continued effort to support the convenience services industry while it provides valuable services in a safe manner during these unprecedented times.

Information from the CDC on the using and making face masks - CLICK HERE

Get the Latest Updates...
How the Coronavirus is Impacting the Vending Industry

Vending Times has daily coverage of how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting businesses in the vending industry and what they're doing to overcome the challenges. Click here to read Vending Time's latest stories.

CLICK HERE for Additional COVID-19 articles

Coronavirus Funding Options:

Disaster Relief Programs Simplified - Click Here

Funding Information From the SBA:
Our nation's small businesses are facing an unprecedented economic disruption due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. On Friday, March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the CARES Act, which contains $376 billion in relief for American workers and small businesses.

Click here to learn more about available SBA loan and debt relief options.

A list of essential and nonessential businesses in Virginia, according to the governor

Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

The following recreation and entertainment businesses are considered nonessential and must close to the public beginning at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, according to Gov. Ralph Northam: theaters, performing arts centers, concert venues, museums and other indoor entertainment centers.

Governor orders more businesses to close as of midnight Tuesday

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Starting at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday and for at least 30 days, there will be no haircuts, no massages, no tanning, no tattoos, no trampolining, no gym-going, and no indoor public amusement outside of the confines of one’s own home. On Monday, Gov. Ralph Northam ordered all businesses considered recreational or entertainment (see a longer list below) to close.

Virginia K-12 schools closed for remainder of academic year

By CLAIRE MITZEL, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday ordered the state’s K-12 schools to remain closed for the rest of the school year. “School closures are necessary to minimize the speed at which COVID-19 spreads and protect the capacity of our health care system,” he said.

Decision to close schools 'takes your breath away'

By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Virginia schools will stay closed for the rest of the academic year, Gov. Ralph Northam ordered Monday, a step only one other state has taken in hopes of mitigating the spread of the coronavirus. Northam’s announcement came four days before his first round of mandated school closures was set to expire, on March 27.

STATE ELECTIONS

Election officials raise questions about safety of upcoming elections

By ALISON GRAHAM, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Electoral boards and registrars across the state are concerned about offering in-person voting for the upcoming May and June elections amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter sent last week, two associations asked the state to close polling locations and accept only mail-in ballots.

STATE GOVERNMENT

Va. schools closed for rest of year; state educators seek guidance

By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Virginia educators hope to receive some clear direction today on how to proceed with instruction after Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday ordered schools closed for the remainder of this academic year. On Monday, Northam directed that all public and private schools in Virginia close as part of sweeping new regulations designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

ECONOMY/BUSINESS

More than 23,000 hotel jobs lost so far in Va.

By SYDNEY LAKE, Virginia Business

As of Monday, the lodging and hotels industry has lost more than 23,000 jobs in Virginia as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to Eric Terry, president of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association. The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) on Monday released the results of a study estimating that Virginia’s lodging industry will lose a total of more than 78,000 total direct and indirect jobs before the pandemic is over.

2 Newport News shipyard employees test positive for coronavirus

By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

Two workers at Newport News Shipbuilding tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, shipyard president Jennifer Boykin reported in a social media message. The first employee was diagnosed over the weekend and called in Monday to report the positive result to the yard. That individual, who works on the second floor of Building 600, has not been on company property since March 16. Yard executives have met with employees who work near the individual and have advised them to check in at the company clinic.

Gun sales spike across Virginia as people worry about coronavirus

By PETER COUTU AND KATHERINE HAFNER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The phones are ringing off the hook and firearms flying off the shelves at gun shops around Hampton Roads. “We’re jammed,” said one guy who answered the phone at Superior Pawn & Gun in Virginia Beach, which hosted an outdoor “social distancing friendly” gun event on Friday.

TRANSPORTATION

HRT to end ferry service early starting Wednesday

Southside Daily

Elizabeth River Ferry is ending its daily and weekend service 9 p.m. starting Wednesday in response to coronavirus (COVID19). In addition, Hampton Roads Transit also announced on Monday that it will accelerate the cleaning of its vehicles, transit centers and administrative offices using disinfecting agents delivered with an electrostatic misting device that disinfects all surfaces, including hard-to-reach areas.

CORONAVIRUS

Watch how coronavirus has spread throughout Virginia, reaching 39 cities and counties

By PETER COUTU, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

A little more than two weeks ago, Virginia saw its first case of the novel coronavirus. A U.S. Marine assigned to Fort Belvoir tested positive for COVID-19 on March 7. A few days later, it reached Hampton Roads, with a couple testing positive after going on a Nile River Cruise. . . . By Sunday, at least 219 people — an increase of 67 from Saturday — had tested positive for the virus, likely a fraction of the total outbreak in Virginia due to limited testing and a lag in reporting from state officials.

Virginia Beach Health Department reports first coronavirus death

By JESSICA NOLTE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The Virginia Beach Health Department reported Monday its first death from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The patient was a man in his 70s, according to a news release from the health department. He was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.

Jefferson Lab suspends operations out of concern about coronavirus spread

By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

Jefferson Lab suspended on-campus operations Monday and began procedures to shut down the facility. The aim is to bring the the U.S. Department of Energy research facility into an idled, safe and stable configuration by Friday.

Nursing homes, assisted living facilities add new restrictions to curb COVID-19. Will they be enough?

By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

By March 12, Westminster Canterbury Richmond — a nearly 900-resident senior living facility near the city’s picturesque Bellevue neighborhood — was on lockdown. That day, staff got the news that a resident in neighboring Hanover County had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus. The proximity of the case activated the emergency response plan at Westminster Canterbury, which offers independent and assisted living as well as a nursing facility, said CEO John Burns. . . .The strict new measures still didn’t prevent COVID-19 from getting in.

Navy hospital ship docked in Norfolk could take weeks getting to New York

Southside Daily

As the Navy gears up to send hospital ships to areas hit hard by the Coronavirus (COVID 19), the one heading to New York likely won’t be ready to operate there for weeks, defense officials said. President Donald Trump said Sunday the Navy’s pair of hospital ships, the USNS Comfort and its sister ship, the USNS Mercy will soon be stationed on the East and West coasts to help relieve stress on American medical facilities.

Want to make masks for hospitals? Some might not know how to make use of them.

By ELISHA SAUERS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

Girl Scouts are stitching like the wind. A regional crafting group is sourcing elastic to do its part. As with national crises of the past, people with good intentions are searching for ways to support the cause. With ample social-distancing time on their hands, community volunteers got busy this week sewing masks for their hospitals, which are low on protective supplies.

As COVID-19 spreads, Virginia coal mines remain open

By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

Coal mining continues in Southwest Virginia even as workplace constraints prevent miners from following many of the social distancing practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Monday, all of Virginia’s coal and mineral mines that had been open before the appearance of COVID-19, the disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus, were still operating, said Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy spokesperson Tarah Kesterson.

EVMS urges at least 145 students and faculty to quarantine after a positive case

By ELISHA SAUERS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

An Eastern Virginia Medical School student training to be a physician assistant was infected with the coronavirus after coming into contact with a patient suspected of having it. The student, who tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus, self-reported the illness to school officials, said Vincent Rhodes, an EVMS spokesman.

United Way reports big needs on Peninsula as coronavirus hits nonprofits hard

By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)

In one of Virginia’s COVID-19 hotspots, the coronavirus is tearing at the social safety net that the Peninsula’s volunteer and nonprofit agencies run. School closings and stay-at-home directives mean groups are struggling to find ways to deliver critical services to some of the Peninsula’s most vulnerable, said Steve Kast, president of the United Way of the Virginia Peninsula.

VAMA Leads Process for Variance Request for Micro-Markets with VDACS

Your VAMA Leadership has been hard at work on tasks to improve the business climate in the state of Virginia – this will help all operators both VAMA member and non-member companies. One of those tasks was to obtain a variance request for Micro-Markets which we define as unattended retail establishments.   In Virginia, the law states that there must be a person at any "food" establishment.  In order to operate a Micro-Market we need to obtain a variance to this and show processes that the operator has in place to insure food safety. Our desire here is to create uniformity with this new process and give you guidance as you obtain your own variance for your individual company.  A member of the VAMA Board has received final approval and we would like to share the process with you since we have a clear understanding what VDACS is looking for in this variance request.  We have attached the letter sent to Senator McDougle from VADCS that clarified their position on the matter.

Below are the 3 steps required by VDACS to acquire approval:

1. Fill out the variance request application
   Simply fill out the information requested and in the box that asks for “list of processes or operations requiring a variance…”, insert your company name in this box.
   
2. List of each Micro-Market address: 
   Please list all addresses where these Micro-Markets exists.  There is no requirement to list the "business name" where the Micro-Market is located, just the address of the locations to be covered under the blanket variance.
   
3. Written Request to VDACS: 
   Lastly, operators will need to file a written request for the variance application. As stated earlier, in order to operate a Micro-Market we need to obtain a variance to this and show processes that the operator has to insure food safety. Attached is a guidance for unattended food establishments and there are seven (7) categories that need to be addressed with subcategories for guidance. Each category does not need to have a separate paragraph but each category needs to be addressed.  (see attached Word document TEMPLATE for you to use…the first couple paragraphs are generic but the highlighted areas should be re-written for your company’s need in applying for this variance.)