FRLA COVID-19 Update

04/29/2020

This week, FRLA has been participating on Governor Ron DeSantis’ Re-Open Florida Task Force to discuss how we can safely get back to work. We highlighted numerous FRLA members’ involvement on the Executive Committee and the various industry working groups, including that for Accommodation, Food, Tourism, Construction, Real Estate, Recreation, Retail, and Transportation. If you missed our press release, you may view it here. 

We are also incredibly proud to have developed a draft re-opening document, “Critical COVID-19 Guidance Standards for Hospitality Reopening in Florida,”  in coordination with the National Restaurant Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). As soon as this guidance is finalized, we will distribute it. As COVID-19 has certainly devastated our industry and we are focused on public health, our goal is to reopen Florida based on scientific evidence and proper safety measures that inspire consumer confidence.

Today, President Trump signed legislation with an additional $484 billion in financial relief for businesses, hospitals, and COVID-19 testing. Make sure you talk with your financial institution and get your paperwork submitted as soon as possible. 

Here are just a few of our many efforts this week: 

  • FRLA President & CEO Carol Dover has been working through the Governor’s Re-Open Florida Task Force to provide recommendations as we look to safely re-open our state and get our members and their teams back to work;
  • As mentioned above, FRLA developed draft Reopening Guidance Standards for Florida’s Hospitality Industry that we are working to finalize and share with the industry; 
  • FRLA’s Government Relations (GR) Team continued their frequent communication and information sharing with our federal colleagues at NRA, AHLA, and AAHOA;
  • GR team members also answered questions from members involving the Payroll Protection Program and other available loans through SBA, rent and mortgage mitigation, tax reductions, unemployment compensation, labor issues (furlough and terminations), the status of reopening for business, and other similar issues;
  • In addition to helping develop the draft reopening guidance, FRLA’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Coordinators have continued their efforts on elder meals and other feeding needs, connecting restaurants with feeding programs;
  • FRLA’s Regional Directors have also been working directly with local members on all of these efforts and updates and have joined FRLA EOC Coordinators on several food drive efforts;
  • The FRLA Education & Training Team (E&T) has been working to identify training and education needs as we enter a post-COVID-19 era in the hospitality industry; 
  • FRLA Membership Team members partnered with Sandman Savrann to host a webinar titled, “Do I have to pay rent during this crisis?” The session focused on legal and practical arguments available to restaurant tenants to reduce or abate rent during the COVID-19 crisis. If you missed the webinar, you may access it on the FRLA YouTube Channel or directly here; and
  • FRLA President & CEO Carol Dover also participated in a webinar with USF: “Planning For The Future: How COVID-19 Will Alter The Food Safety Landscape,” which is available here.

Please know that our whole FRLA team is fighting every day for each of you and our entire industry. We know that we will rebuild Florida’s outstanding hospitality industry, one brick at a time. We will weather this storm together. We are a resilient industry. We are #HospitalityStrong.