Monday will be a big day in our long, slow, slog back.

 

That’s because Monday marks the beginning of Phase 4 of the state’s recovery plan (more on that below).

 

It’s also the first day when many front line workers -- including restaurant employees, grocery and other retail store employees, transit workers, court employees and others on this list -- will be eligible to book a vaccine appointment.

 

It's about time. These folks have been risking their health -- and their family's health -- while they've kept shelves stocked, manned registers and prepared our take out for the rest of us for the past year.

 

Individuals 60-plus -- a group that includes both the governor and your favorite morning newsletter author – will also be eligible starting Monday.

 

Everyone 55-plus, or with one of these underlying health conditions, joins the vax line on April 5. 

 

And by Patriots Day (April 19), all residents age 16-plus will also be able to register.

 

"I plan to pre-register and we'll see what happens,” Gov. Charlie Baker said yesterday. “Because I will be eligible. I'm very excited about that.”

 

Me too.

 

 

It's not a bad day when the tax filing date gets pushed back and vaccine timelines get pushed forward. Here’s the full timeline. Depending on supply, it could take several weeks to score an appointment.

 

There are several different ways to find an appointment:

 

 

Go here for more state vaccine related info.

 

Finally, if you’re a Republican man -- or there's one in your pod -- invite them to read this from Newton top GOPer Tom Mountain.

 

 

 

Monday also marks the start of Phase 4, Step 1 of the state’s reopening plan. Here’s what’s allowed under the new phase:

 

 

All other Phase 4 industries will not be able to open until a future reopening step.

 

Those include: Road races, street festivals, parades and fairs, amusement parks, theme parks, Beer gardens, breweries, wineries distilleries, outdoor water parks, saunas, hot-tubs, steam rooms at fitness centers, health clubs, and other facilities, plus bars, dance clubs, and nightclubs—venues offering entertainment, beverages, or dancing and not providing seated food service

 

All reopening guidance and updates are here.

 

 

Here’s some good news if you’ve yet to secure a PPP loan, or perhaps didn’t get as much as you should have because of when you applied.

 

The US House voted 415-3 yesterday to extend the program to May 31, instead of the current March 31 deadline. The bill also gives the SBA an added 30 days to process loans.

 

A similar proposal is now before the Senate.

 

Part of the push for an extension came after the Biden administration put new rules into place last month that allowed some businesses with no employees as well as independent contractors and sole proprietors, to receive extra funding by using gross income instead of net income to calculate the size of their PPP loans, reports Andy Medici at the BBJ.

 

 

If your business or nonprofit has received a PPP loan but you have yet to apply for forgiveness, join us for our PPP Forgiveness Workshop next Thursday (March 25) at 2 p.m.

 

It will be lead by the legendary (not kidding, this guy's a PPP encyclopedia) Ili Spahiu at the Mass. SBA District Office. Details.

 

Free PPP assistance is also available through the UMass Amherst’s Small Business Development Center. Schedule a virtual meeting here.

 

There's also the Massachusetts Equitable PPP Initiative which offers free multilingual technical assistance and lender matching for underbanked and historically underserved businesses, including businesses owned by women and people of color.

 

 

Boston Restaurant Talk has news of two new food establishments coming to the same block of Beacon Street in Newton Centre.

 

 

Meanwhile, in Needham the Cookie Monstah bake shop has applied for permitting to open on Highland Ave. at the former location of Stacy’s Juice Bar.

 

 

 

Yesterday, I mentioned an effort in Needham to place local artworks in vacant storefront windows.

 

Today, we have news about a similar effort in Wellesley.

 

ArtWellesley is collaborating with chamber member Linear Properties and the town to place art curated from local art organizations, art students and area artists, into empty stores windows on Central Street.

 

ArtWellesley is the brainchild of residents and artists Annie Newman, Laura Robert, and Julie Vari, who recently founded the group to help promote the visual arts within Wellesley. 

 

The storefront art project is supported in part through a Wellesley COVID-19 Relief Fund grant.

 

 

Coronavirus outbreaks are back in the news with growing worries about virus variants. But one expert says recent spikes are due to carelessness, not new variants.

 

“My strong suspicion is it’s probably due to people letting their guard down and not due to the emergence of the variants,” Dr. Philip Landrigan, who directs Boston College’s Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good, tells Martin Finucane at the Globe.

 

“The vaccine is coming,” he said. “It’s very important that people stay vigilant for a couple of more months until we get a very large portion of the population covered by the vaccine.

 

So mask up pal and keep your distance, OK?

 

 

 

Both BBJ’s Catherine Carlock and the Globe’s Jon Chesto published stories recently asking employers when they’ll – of it they’ll – require employees return to the office.

 

Most companies were undecided.

 

Chesto’s article included a photo of Mohamad Ali, CEO at IDG, looking a little lonely in an empty room of cubicles at IDG’s new HQ on Kendrick Street in Needham. We we're pretty excited last May when IDG announced plans to move into PTC former space. But ten months later, most of IDG's 500 local employees still haven’t set foot in the office.

 

There was also an article by the BBJ’s Greg Ryan looking at the RMR Group, a Newton based real estate firm, whose 270 or so employees have been mostly in the office (or as many as were allowed under the governor’s capacity limits) since June.

 

But now that we have an established timeline for a roll out, I suspect some of the companies that were uncertain last week may be getting closer to establishing plans.

 

What about your office?

 

Have you set a timeline for return? Full time? Part time? Vaccines required? Or are you and your team already back?

 

Send me an email. I’ll keep your answers confidential if you like, I’m just hoping to gauge how our employers thinking is evolving.

 

Thanks in advance for responding!

 

President, Newton-Needham Regional Chamber

617-244-1688

Your chamber is here when you need us.

 

Dine out. Take out. Shop locally. And tip generously.