Alliance endorses WMC’s Back to Business Plan

The Alliance has officially endorsed the Wisconsin Manufacturer’s & Commerce Back to Business Plan. The Back to Business plan is a credible, responsive, adaptable, and tactical means to safely reopen Wisconsin’s economy in a way that responsibly manages risk, and reflects the fact that communities in different parts of the state are having very different experiences with this virus.

The plan assigns risks for every business in Wisconsin according to four factors: (1) the infection rate for each business’s county, (2) the population density for each business’s county, (3) the risk of transmission associated with each type of business, and (4) the capacity of local hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients. Based upon its individual risk score (minimal, moderate, or substantial), each business would be required to implement mitigation steps to ensure that employees and customers are protected from virus spread.

The risk scores and mitigation requirements are based upon CDC and OSHA recommendations, and also include input from public health professionals. Because the plan relies on real-time data for infection rates and hospital capacity, it allows for responsive mitigation tactics. If infection rates increase in a localized area, risk scores for businesses will correspondingly increase, and businesses in that area will be required to take more aggressive mitigation steps to prevent the spread.