>>> SAFER AT HOME. THAT'S THE MODIFIED VERSION OF
THE CURRENT ADVISORY FOR MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS, WHICH
GOVERNOR CHARLIE BAKER HAS SAID STARTS MONDAY.
EVEN THOUGH SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUSINESSES CAN REOPEN,
UNDER NEW HEALTH AND SAFETY GUIDELINES, IT WILL BE A VERY
DIFFERENT MEMORIAL DAY THAN MOST PEOPLE ARE USED TO.
THE FOUR-PHASED PLAN HAS BEEN MET WITH MIXED REACTIONS AND
TONIGHT, WE BRING YOU REACTIONS FROM TWO BUSINESS LEADERS FROM
OUR REGION. >> IMMEDIATE REACTIONS, IT'S
GOOD TO HAVE SOMETHING OUT THERE.
IT'S GOOD TO SEE SOME RETURN TO ACTIVITY.
MANUFACTURING CONSTRUCTION, A FEW OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES
FOLLOWING THAT NEXT WEEK. BUT, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY SOME
BIG UNKNOWNS BETWEEN PHASE 2 AND PHASE 3, AS IT PERTAINS TO THE
BERKSHIRES. SOME OF THOSE UNKNOWN AREAS ARE
PRETTY CENTRAL PIECE OF OUR ECONOMY AND WHAT WE EXPECT IN
THE SUMMER. WE'RE GOING TO BE WORKING HARD
TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THAT, ADVOCATE WHAT'S GOING ON OUT
HERE TO THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION AND HOPE TO GET A LITTLE BIT
MORE CLARITY IN THE VERY SHORT TERM.
>> RICK SAME QUESTION FOR YOU. >> YEAH, I THINK IT'S GREAT TO
HAVE SOME THINGS STARTING TO OPEN UP.
I DO THINK AS WE'RE TALKING JUST BEFORE WE STARTED HERE, I THINK
THTHERE IS SOME FRUSTRATION WITH THE SMALLER BUSINESSES,
PARTICULARLY THE RESTAURANTS IN TERMS OF I THINK THEY WERE
EXPECTING MORE IN TERMS OF REOPENINGS IN THE FIRST PHASE.
I PERSONALLY THINK THE GOVERNOR HAD BEEN PRETTY CLEAR IN TERMS
OF FORECASTING THAT THERE WAS NOT GOING TO BE WHOLESALE
CHANGES IN THIS PHASE ONE. IT WAS GOING TO BE GO SLOW, BE
SAFE, BUT I THINK SOME OF THE SMALLER BUSINESSES, PARTICULARLY
THE RESTAURANTS AND THE MAIN STREET BUSINESSES ARE REALLY
LOOKING FOR SOME SOLID GUIDANCE IN TERMS OF WHEN ARE THINGS
GOING TO OPEN AND WHAT ARE GOING TO BE THE GUIDELINES?
THEY NEED TO BE ABLE TO PLANNING ON WHAT IT'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, PARTICULARLY FOR THE SMALLER COMPANIES AND
THE RESTAURANTS IN PARTICULAR, BUSINESS MOVING FORWARD IS GOING
TO LOOK VERY DIFFERENT THAN IT DID BEFORE COVID.
>> YEAH, AND THE GOVERNOR ANNOUNCING HIS PLAN YESTERDAY
REALLY DEFERRED DIFFERENT INDUSTRY SECTORS OR REFERRED
DIFFERENT INDUSTRY SECTORS TO THE WEBSITE FOR PIECES OF THAT
GUIDANCE THAT YOU BOTH JUST MENTIONED AND HE WAS VERY CLEAR
THAT HE FEELS LIKE THIS IS GOING TO BE INDUSTRY BY INDUSTRY
SPECIFIC. THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE A
ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SET OF SAFETY GUIDELINES AND PARAMETERS FOR
VARIOUS INDUSTRIES. FOR INSTANCE, HERE AT OUR
OFFICE. IT'S GOING TO BE VERY DIFFERENT
IN TERMS OF HOW WE REOPEN OR CONTINUE TO INVITE COLLEAGUES
BACK INTO THE OFFICE VERSUS HOW IT'S GOING TO BE IN A RESTAURANT
AND HOW THINGS ARE GOING TO BE SPACED OUT.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW -- I HAVE RELATIVES IN FLORIDA AND WAS
VERY DIFFERENT APPROACH TO REOPENING THERE BASED ON WHAT
I'VE SEEN IN THE NEWS AND SPEAKING WITH THEM AND QUITE
FRANKLY, SOME PEOPLE HAVE SAID WHO I KNOW WHO LIVE THERE THAT
IT'S BEEN SCARY TO WATCH, WHERE FOR HALF A DAY, IT WAS MEASURED
AND SORT OF ADULTS BEING RESPONSIBLE, AND BY THE END OF
THE DAY IN SOME AREAS, IT WAS PRETTY CHAOTIC.
PROBABLY NO SURPRISE WE SAW REACTION ALL OVER THE PLACE
YESTERDAY TO THIS PLAN. I WANT TO READ THIS TWEET FROM
THE MASS REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN JIM LIONS, HE SAID THAT
THE GOVERNOR BAKER AND JIM POLITO JUST PUT IN PLACE THE
MOST RESTRICTIVE BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS IN HISTORY.
THESE REGULATIONS POTENTIALLY WILL CRUSH OUR ECONOMY.
AS I WATCH THIS PRESS CONFERENCE, I FEEL SO SAD FOR
THE SMALL STRUGGLING BUSINESSES IN OUR STATE.
THOUGHTS ON MR. LIONS' TAKE, JONATHAN?
>> YEAH, YOU KNOW, THAT'S CERTAINLY -- IT'S A HARD TAKE,
BUT THERE'S SOME THOUGHTS IN THERE THAT MERIT CONSIDERATION.
I THINK THAT RIGHT NOW, THAT INITIAL FIRST WEEK FIRST TWO
WEEKS, EVEN AS WE LOOK THROUGH PHASE 1, YOU CAN INTERPRET THAT
AS BEING VERY RESTRICTIVE AND OBVIOUSLY, THERE'S CERTAIN
INDUSTRIES THAT WERE KEPT OUT ALMOST COMPLETELY.
I THINK WHAT'S CRITICAL, THOUGH, IN BUILDING OFF OF SORT OF THIS
INITIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AND THIS INITIAL PHASE 1 GUIDANCE IS
CREATING A RUNWAY AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE FOR THE BUSINESSES THAT
CAN OPEN IN PHASE TWO AND THE BUSINESSES THAT CAN OPEN IN
PHASE THREE. RESTAURANTS NEED PROBABLY AT
MINIMUM ONE TO TWO WEEKS AND IN MANY INSTANCES MAYBE THREE OR
FOUR WEEKS TO BRING BACK THEIR STAFF, RETRAIN IN PROPER SOCIAL
DISTANCING AND GUIDELINES AND MEASURES, ORDERING INVENTORY AND
IN SOME CASES, YOU KNOW, COMPANIES LIKE SIS QUO THAT ARE
FOOD SUPPLIERS, THEY NEED THE RUNWAY TO KNOW WHEN THEY CAN
START ORDERING INVENTORY TO DISTRIBUTE TO LOCAL BUSINESSES.
IT'S SIMILAR AS WE TALK ABOUT ACCOMMODATIONS AND PHASE TWO AND
PHASE THREE WHERE THE LONGER THE RUNWAY WE CAN GIVE THEM, THE
BETTER THEY'LL BE ABLE TO REOPEN AND THE MORE SAFELY IS AND
EFFECTIVELY THEY'LL BE ABLE TO REOPEN AND THE OTHER THING THAT
I WOULD ADD TO THAT IS I DO THINK IT'S GOOD THAT WE HAVE THE
BAKER ADMINISTRATION'S APPROACH THAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT IT
SECTOR BY SECTOR. IT CAN'T BE ONE SIZE FITS ALL.
YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE NUANCES OF EACH SECTOR, BUT I WOULD
SUGGEST THAT WE ALSO HAVE TO LOOK AT ALMOST BUSINESS BY
BUSINESS AND CREATE A PROTOCOL THAT WITHIN SECTORS YOU CAN --
YOU HAVE TO START WITH SOMETHING AND IN THE PHASE ONE PLAN THEY
STARTED WITH SOMETHING, THEY PUT EVERYBODY INTO A BOX.
BUT WITHIN THOSE BOXES, NOT ALL THOSE PIECES ARE ALIKE.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE BERKSHIRES, WE HAVE VERY SMALL PROPERTIES
THAT IT, YOU KNOW -- IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE IT'S GOING TO BE
COMPLICATIONS WITH THEM INVITING GUESTS IN TO VIEW THEIR SPACES
AND EXHIBITS, WHETHER IT'S A HISTORICAL PROPERTY OR CULTURAL
SITE. WE HAVE OTHERS WITH BIG GIANT
LARGE CAMPUSES AND, YOU KNOW, TREMENDOUS AMOUNTS OF SQUARE
FOOTAGE ON THEIR PROPERTY THAT CAN DO SOME VERY CREATIVE THINGS
TO CREATE SAFE ENVIRONMENTS SO I THINK THERE HAS TO BE MEASURES
NOT JUST SECTOR BY SECTOR, BUT EVEN BUSINESS BY BUSINESS WHERE
WE CAN MAKE SOME SENSIBLE DECISIONS TO GET SOME THINGS
OPERATING. >> SO RICK, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF
THE AISLE WE HEARD CRITICISM FROM A LOT OF PROGRESSIVES,
INCLUDING STATE REPRESENTATIVE LINDSEY SABADOSA WHO WAS
CRITICAL OF THE GOVERNOR SAYING LOOK THIS SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN
BUSINESS LEADERS, EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE SOME MEDICAL
PROFESSIONALS ON THE REOPENING COMMITTEE, BUT THIS SHOULDN'T BE
FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY. THESE DETERMINATIONS SHOULD BE
MADE BY EPIDEMIOLOGISTS, AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE THEIR HANDS
WRAPPED AROUND PUBLIC HEALTH DATA.
DO YOU THINK THAT THAT'S -- HER APPROACH, HER CRITICISM OF THE
GOVERNOR, IS FAIR? >> WELL, FIRST OFF, I DON'T
REALLY THINK THERE'S A PLACE FOR POLITICS IN THESE DECISIONS TO
BEGIN WITH. SO I DO THINK IN MASSACHUSETTS,
WE'VE BEEN GENERALLY PRETTY FORTUNATE THAT I THINK EVERYBODY
HAS GOTTEN BEHIND THE PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, AND, YOU
KNOW, THE CEO AT BAYSTATE IS ON THAT REOPENING COMMITTEE.
I'VE GOT A LOT OF FAITH IN MARK AND THE WORK THAT THEY DO AT
BAYSTATE. SO HE WAS ON THAT REOPENING.
AND I THINK THAT THAT WAS A GOOD VOICE AND I KNOW HE CERTAINLY
HAS BEEN ONE COMING STRICTLY FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH POINT OF
VIEW. SO A LOT OF FAITH THERE.
THAT BEING SAID, I DO THINK THAT THE REOPENING NEEDS TO MAKE SOME
COMMON SENSE, AS WELL. SO IT IS VERY HARD TO, YOU KNOW,
DISCUSS WITH A LOCAL BUSINESS WHY IT'S OKAY FOR THERE TO BE,
YOU KNOW, TWO OR 300 PEOPLE AT THE HOME DEPOT, BUT YOU CAN'T
HAVE TWO IN YOUR SMALL, MAIN STREET BUSINESS.
SO I THINK THERE'S A PLACE FOR COMMON SENSE AND BALANCING THE
CLEAR PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES THAT ARE OUT THERE AND THOSE
CERTAINLY NEED TO DRIVE THE CONVERSATION AND BE YOU KNOW,
WHAT DECIDES WHAT THE POLICIES ARE GOING TO BE, BUT I ALSO
THINK THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME COMMON SENSE, AS WELL.