March 11, 2020

Jon Flora
President & Chief Executive Officer

In light of Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s emergency declarations Wednesday morning ( Read more: The Seattle Times, Mar 11, 2020 ) which largely impact the greater Puget Sound area, I want to let you know how NACM Business Credit Services is responding to the Coronavirus issue.

For our friends outset of the greater Seattle area, I want to let you know that while our area has been labeled “the epicenter” of the virus and about 30 people have sadly passed away from the virus, most of us are doing just fine. People are taking this seriously and employing appropriate precautions so that we all get through the event in good form.

The impact on our businesses, non-profit organizations and schools is already significant and deeply concerning. Many of our school districts and universities have closed and are teaching classes electronically, The Seattle area hotel industry has seen occupancy rates drop by 60 percent in the last week. And, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines (an NACM BCS member) had 265,000 fewer bookings in late February than it did in 2019 for March departures. At the same time, it suffered 270,000 more cancellations than usual for this time of year.

So what does this mean for you and our association?

NACMBCS has solid Emergency Preparedness and Business Disruption Policies. We have turned to these navigational aids to ensure that we can continue to meet your needs. At this time:

We are open for business as usual and are actively serving our members. If you need our help in any way, please call.

After calling a random sample of members, our Industry Trade Group meetings are currently going forward as regularly scheduled in the regular locations. We will be in touch with Group members with any changes. If you have questions or challenging circumstances, please call Claudia Berrigan at 206-728-6366.

At the advice of the hotel venue, our Lien Seminar scheduled for April 9th is being moved to May 5th . Additional information about the seminar will be coming shortly.

As far as our office operations are concerned, we are following common-sense precautions including:

  • Requiring frequent hand washing.
  • If you are sick stay home. If you come to work sick, you will be sent home.
  • Urging special care if a person is over 60, pregnant, or with existing medical conditions.
  • Regular cleaning of keyboards, mice, phones and desk/table tops.
  • Using proper food handling procedures including covering food.

A number of our member companies have moved to temporary telecommuting requirements for their employees. NACM BCS is prepared and equipped to conduct conference calls, video conferences and webinars as required. And, of course, telephone and email still work, too.

For any of our members planning to attend the Credit Research Foundation’s March Forum in Charleston, S.C., that meeting has been canceled. We know how difficult a decision it was for our friends and colleagues at CRF, and we support them in their caution.

All of our monthly online webinars will continue as scheduled. Please refer to the current schedule on our website.

This is a very dynamic and serious event. We are continuing to monitor government directives in all states in which our members reside. Adjustments and accommodations will be made as necessary.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us anytime at: 800-423-5710 or info@nacmbcs.org.

Thank you for your time. We wish the best for you, your families and professional colleagues.

Best regards,