Could a ‘golden mask’ be in your business’s future? Thurston health officials think so
Thurston County health officials have answered so many business owners’ questions about how to operate in a pandemic that they are readying a new program that will reward businesses for doing a good job meeting COVID-19 requirements.
The business might be rewarded with a visual identifier, such as a gold-colored star or mask, that the business owner could affix to the door or window to help boost consumer confidence. The idea is for a customer to see the image and feel more comfortable about shopping or dining at the business.
The county expects to begin promoting the program in the next couple of weeks, said Art Starry, the county’s environmental health director.
“We can do it on a cooperative basis and achieve our public health goal,” he said about the program, which doesn’t have an official name yet, but is loosely known as the COVID-19 business assistance program.
The goal is to help businesses already dealing with so much. Their list is long: COVID-19, a slower economy, the health and safety of employees, the health and safety of customers, and their own health and safety. Earning a gold star or mask could be just another stressful requirement for a business.
Starry said the county is not trying to create “winners and losers” with the program, but if there is strong demand for it, which will be free and voluntary, that’s a good problem to have, he said.
Thurston County Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive David Schaffert supports the program. He acknowledged that business owners have a lot on their plates these days, but he believes it’s a positive for business owners.
“I think it’s a good public awareness effort for businesses,” he said.
Four weeks ago, the chamber launched something similar called the Back to Business 5 Point Safety Pledge, which business owners can fill out and then have displayed at their business. About 100 business owners have made the pledge, which is about 10 percent of the chamber membership, Schaffert said.
How will the county program work?
County officials envision the program happening in two parts: First, there would be a review of the business’s COVID-19 business plan, followed by a visual inspection of how that plan is being implemented.
Businesses will be checked in eight areas, said Sammy Berg, a senior environmental health specialist who is perhaps best known for supervising the health inspections of area eateries.
Those areas: employee screening, employee training, proper physical distancing, proper cleaning techniques, customer volume control — including the use of one-way signs if aisles are two narrow — and what the business will do if an employee is sick or tests positive for COVID-19.
Berg said if a business still needs to work on elements of its plan, the county is not there to mark someone down and hand out a face with a frown.
“The main idea is to provide technical guidance and assistance,” he said.
Although the program hasn’t been rolled out yet, Berg was asked whether he could think of a business that has responded well in the pandemic. The pet store Mud Bay, he said.
‘Muddy’ helpers
Mud Bay is the born-in-Olympia, employee-owned pet store business that now has 59 stores — a 60th store is opening in Puyallup before the end of the year — in Washington and Oregon, including its well-known store in west Olympia on Harrison Avenue. It also has a store in the Lacey Crossroads development, which is near Yelm Highway and College Street.
That’s where Mud Bay Chief Merchandising Officer Al Puntillo talked with The Olympian about the company’s response to COVID-19.
One of the steps taken by the business was to hire more workers. Employees at Mud Bay are sometimes referred to as “muddies,” so the 60-80 new hires became “muddy helpers,” he said.
“It was an extra set of hands to help with the doors and to make sure stores were not getting too overcrowded,” Puntillo said.
There also was training — how to get customers to be compliant (wearing a mask, using hand sanitizer) — without being confrontational, as well as investments in new signs and its phone system as the business shifted to curbside pickup, Puntillo said.
Mud Bay stores now have hand-sanitizing stations, but during the early days of the pandemic, sanitizer was in short supply so they began with foot-powered, hand-washing stations.
Puntillo praised the Mud Bay staff for their flexibility, and for being able to “roll with all the punches” of the pandemic. For their efforts, they received “thank you” pay, he said.
“It’s been a challenge,” said Puntillo about adjusting to the pandemic, “and it’s taken a lot of time and a lot of thought from a bunch of different Muddies.”
For more information
If you have an interest in the county’s program, contact the Business Assistance Team at COVID19ThurstonPHSS@co.thurston.wa.us. or call the office at 360-867-2500. Email requests preferred.
This story was originally published October 11, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
