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Local businesses earning Seals of Commitment for safety, sanitization, and more

Program to instill confidence in safety measures during COVID-19

By Wesley LeBlanc wesley@opcfla.com
Posted 9/30/20

CLAY COUNTY—Local businesses want you to feel safe when using their services, and many of them are after official certifications to do just that.

COVID-19 has made many consumers question how …

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Local businesses earning Seals of Commitment for safety, sanitization, and more

Program to instill confidence in safety measures during COVID-19


Posted

CLAY COUNTY—Local businesses want you to feel safe when using their services, and many of them are after official certifications to do just that.

COVID-19 has made many consumers question how badly they need to go eat at restaurants, drink at bars or shop at stores. It’s always better to be safe than sorry but as the state opens back up, more are returning to their favorite businesses.

Many of those businesses now are working to get official Seals of Commitment to sanitization and safety measures so you can do what you need to do with peace of mind.

“It’s really about making sure that guests understand that the business is taking all precautions possible to keep employees and guests safe during COVID-19 and after,” Northeast Florida Regional Director and Florida Inns Chapter Director for the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Nicole Chapman said. “Restaurants and lodging already have strict guidelines, so this is about amplifying it and making it known to customers.”

The idea is simple: a business that completes the necessary steps and requirements to get the seal that can be displayed on the premises and in their advertising. The seal will be something to highlight, Chapman said, as it will speak to the business’ commitment to safety.

Chapman said her office and the rest of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association has been hard at work this year as the “pandemic has devastated [the] industry with restaurants closed and traveling down.” Chapman said FRLA has worked hard with state officials and within federal guidelines to ensure that re-openings go smoothly and safely. The Seal of Commitment is the next step to that plan.

“We decided to partner with Clay County because it was one, a great opportunity for [Tourism Director Kimberly Morgan] and her team and the tourism department and, because we’ve got wonderful businesses in Clay County who have taken the steps necessary for the seal and are ready to market that,” Chapman said.

Morgan and her team will work to help businesses market that in tourism advertising so that both in-county people and out-of-county tourists know that their safety is prioritized in Clay County. For local businesses that aren’t restaurants or lodging facilities, the Clay County Chamber of Commerce is setting up its own similar seal called Commit-2-Clay.

Chamber President Wendell Chindra said the move, much like the Seal of Commitment, is about giving consumers peace of mind shopping here or there. It’s also about getting dollars spent locally to help maintain Clay’s quality of life.

“If people don’t go back and buy stuff locally, then there’s a further reduction in sales tax,” Chindra said. “If you look at the sales tax, that has the biggest impact on the quality of life here. It pays for parks, for police, for libraries. Commit-2-Clay is about increasing consumer awareness to increase the consumer sentiment index on a local level, which will in turn get the sales tax flowing again.

“We have a great quality of life here in Clay County. How do we preserve that? The answer is localized spending and that’s what Commit 2 Clay is really about. It works as a marketing tool for businesses, it gives customers a peace of mind when shopping there, and it gets the sales tax flowing again in Clay County.”

In order to receive the Seal of Commitment, Chapman said three requirements must be met. The first is that all managers at a business must have up-to-date food management certificates and all employees must have up-to-date food handling certificates. The second is that the business must have completed the FRLA COVID-19 sanitization and safety course. The third and final step is that the establishment must have a set of sanitizations standards and operating procedures in place and active.

“It’s $150 and the outpouring of support has been tremendous,” Chapman said, commenting on how FRLA wanted to make it free but couldn’t within budget. “They really want to do this. It’s wonderful that Clay County could partner to help our industry so badly hurt by COVID-19.”

Chapman said the seal count already has surpassed 100 with several more in the one-week onboarding process.

“We’ve heard such great things about this from businesses and customers,” Chapman said. “When you see the seal at your favorite place, it’s that sign of relief that tells you, ‘this place is doing all it can to be safe.’ It lets them know that this business is taking a self-governing approach to go above and beyond what’s already required of them.

“What we’re seeing will extend far beyond COVID-19. It’s changed our hygiene habits forever. We used to clean the table before you got to it but now, we clean it in front of you because it’s nice to see. We have hand sanitizer stations everywhere. We’re all going above and beyond to remain safe and clean and I think these kinds of things will stick even after we’re through COVID-19.”