Hi GSD Leaders!  I hope that you are at home and staying healthy! Here is more information on the business front for those of us that have to think about our teams and clients. This is a great article with lots of facts and data shared by McKinsey. During this hard time I am SO thankful for the resources that EO is providing.  We are in this together, and for those of you that are not part of organizations that can help, that is what I am trying to do; please share with others, especially for those that don't have good resources to reach out to for help.

The coronavirus outbreak is first and foremost a human tragedy, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. It is also having a growing impact on the global economy. This article is intended to provide business leaders with a perspective on the evolving situation and implications for their companies. The outbreak is moving quickly, and some of the perspectives in this article may fall rapidly out of date. This article reflects our perspective as of March 9, 2020.

What we are still discovering. Three characteristics of the virus are not fully understood, but are key variables that will affect how the disease progresses, and the economic scenario that evolves:

• The extent of undetected milder cases. We know that those infected often display only mild symptoms (or no symptoms at all), so it is easy for public-health systems to miss such cases. For example, 55 percent of the cases on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship did not exhibit significant symptoms (even though many passengers were middle-aged or older). But we don’t know for sure whether official statistics are capturing 80 percent, 50 percent, or 20 percent of cases.
• Seasonality. There is no evidence so far about the virus’s seasonality (that is, a tendency to subside in the northern hemisphere as spring progresses). Coronaviruses in animals are not always seasonal but have historically been so in humans for reasons that are not fully understood. In the current outbreak, regions with higher temperatures (such as Singapore, India, and Africa) have not yet seen a broad, rapid propagation of the disease.
• Asymptomatic transmission. The evidence is mixed about whether asymptomatic people can transmit the virus, and about the length of the incubation period. If asymptomatic transfer is a major driver of the epidemic, then different public-health measures will be needed.Keeping reading HERE

Here is some info on guidance for Business Owners from SBA
Health and government officials are working together to maintain the safety, security and health of the American people. Small businesses are encouraged to do their part to keep their team members, clients and themselves healthy. The SBA will work directly with state Governors to provide targeted, low-interest loans to small businesses and non-profits that have been severely impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million that can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. If you need access to capital, keep reading HERE

Here is another article from SBA that is helpful as well; read it HERE.

Silicon Valley's top investing firm says:
If you are a startup, read this; they say prepare for the worst.  Specifically, Sequoia is telling its founders to question how much cash it has before running out of money “to avoid potentially painful future consequences”; to prepare for a challenging fundraising environment, softening sales, and greater needs for customer marketing; and to consider lowering headcount and spending less.

In the world of optimism that is Silicon Valley — real or contrived — the memo stands out for its bluntness and honesty. And if the coronavirus outbreak becomes as iconic as the global financial crisis, this Medium post could be seen as precocious and equally epochal. Read more HERE

And more to come as information comes in! Hang in there GSD Leaders! Continue to educate yourself! And please look into the resources that are out there to help!