St. Tammany is Ready for Business: Balancing Health of the Community and the Economy is Key, Cooper Says

Today, St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper announced the draft framework for the Live Safe. Work Safe. Shop Safe Action Plan will be made publicly available for all businesses and communities in the Parish to begin making plans to prepare for the possible May 15, 2020 expiration of his extended Stay At Home Order (signed today) which runs concurrently with the Governor’s extended statewide Stay At Home Order, announced Monday.

President Cooper’s extended Stay At Home Order includes specific guidelines for non-essential retail businesses that mirror the language in the Live Safe. Work Safe. Shop Safe. Action Plan. Cooper is committed to having St. Tammany Parish poised and ready to slowly and gradually reopen, when data shows it is suitable to do so, in every effort to restart the St. Tammany economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is vital that we balance the health of our community with the health of our economy, and we are working to strike this balance every day. Parish Government is prioritizing the Live Safe. Work Safe. Shop Safe Action Plan to ensure that all residents and businesses in St. Tammany Parish can operate as comfortably and as safely as possible,” Cooper said. “Beginning Friday, we will maximize the opportunities we have— the resumption of some elective surgeries in our medical facilities, the opening of non-essential retail businesses and professional offices with 10 or fewer people inside — as well as those opportunities presented in the changes put forth in the new order, and the utilization of new options for restaurants to allow patrons to eat on-site without tableside service.”

Cooper announced the formation of the St. Tammany Economic Recovery and Resiliency Advisory Council, to establish the Live Safe. Work Safe. Shop Safe. Action Plan and re-opening strategy on April 20, 2020, led by Chris Masingill, St. Tammany Corporation CEO. 

Cooper went on to say, “I cannot express enough my gratitude for the dedication this Advisory Council has shown in completing this draft, and the time they have sacrificed to work on this plan to enhance the recovery of our community.”

In the first phase, Cooper tasked the Advisory Council with developing short-term re-opening framework to address the needs of St. Tammany Parish, while at the same time, taking into consideration the health and safety of St. Tammany residents and the needs of our entire region.

“The work that the Economic Recovery & Resiliency Advisory Council is doing to make recommendations to position the Parish to balance public safety and economic conditions for our communities and businesses is critical,” says Chris Masingill, St. Tammany Corporation CEO.

“We are working with representatives from all sectors of our economy and healthcare experts to make sure we have the most robust plan in place that prioritizes public health and safety as we

re-open our business operations under a new normal. President Cooper has made it clear that this Council should balance the health of our people and the health of our economy. This is what we will continue to do as we work on the Live Safe. Work Safe. Shop Safe. Action Plan. The Council is designing its recommendations to protect, grow and respond to the needs of St. Tammany so we can continue to be the destination of choice for our people, our businesses and our communities to thrive.”

To date, the St. Tammany Economic Recovery and Resiliency Advisory Council has held five meetings, and collected significant amount of community and business input through a telephone briefing with elected officials, a business survey to solicit feedback from business and industry, and the request for public comments through a dedicated email address. The Advisory Council anticipates hosting additional telephonic briefings, as well as the continued solicitation of public input submitted to the Council at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Advisory Council used standards put forth by the White House, the Governor’s Office and other industry-related resources, to draft preliminary recommendations including: the timelines for the phased re-opening of the business and the recommended protocols for businesses using state and federal guidelines as well as industry recommendations. 

St. Tammany Recovery and Resiliency Advisory Council submitted their initial draft of the Live Safe, Work Safe, Shop Safe Action Plan to Parish President Cooper on Friday, April 24, 2020. This framework is intended to provide local parish guidance in the absence of specific federal or state guidance. Individual industry sectors will also need to consider the guidelines and operational requirements but forth by their industry organizations and regulatory boards and councils.

Over the course of next week, the Advisory Council will hold a series of sector-specific focus groups to gather additional feedback and concerns from local industry representatives. For dates and times, refer to St. Tammany Corporation website. The Advisory Council will continue to meet to review the public comments and focus group insights, review direct feedback on this draft preliminary framework from Parish President Cooper, and edit and expand this document accordingly prior to final submission of the framework recommendation to the Parish President on Friday, May 8, 2020.

Though the pandemic is an ongoing and ever-evolving situation, Parish President Mike Cooper recognizes the opportunity to maintain public health and safety while gradually and responsibly opening up our local economy in thoughtful, intentional phases, when data shows it is suitable to do so. 

The Live Safe.Work Safe.Shop Safe Action Plan can be downloaded at http://sttammanycorp.org/live-safe-work-safe-shop-safe-action-plan/.

Based on the White House’s Reopening America Plan, the Governor’s executive order and adjusted for local guidelines, each phase in the timeline is tempered with the condition of continued decline; at any time, if cases trend upward again, restrictions may temporarily be enforced again. This should especially hold true even after the community achieves Phase III in case a second wave of cases emerges in the fall.

Cooper urges businesses to take this time to maximize this opportunity to plan for the implementation of guidelines of the new normal into their existing business operations and position themselves for the strongest economic success possible. Feedback is welcome and the public’s patience is appreciated while best practices continue to be identified in the fight against COVID-19.

Draft guidelines from the St. Tammany Reopening Plan Continuum for the current phase, in correspondence with the existing the Executive Orders, to note for businesses can be seen here. 

As stage two unfolds throughout May, the Advisory Council is expected to be expanded to continue the build out of the Live Safe. Work Safe. Shop Safe. Action Plan, with their primary focus on understanding and mobilizing long-term recovery efforts and ensuring the resilient return of public and economic health locally. The expanded Advisory Council is expected to include a complete spectrum of local industry and business community partners, including public and private sectors such as: primary and continuing educational leadership, religious leaders, community stakeholders, the hospitality industry, and personal care and lifestyle businesses, to name a few. 

St. Tammany is READY!

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Stay connected to St. Tammany Parish Government and learn about COVID-19 updates as they happen at www.stpgov.org/COVID19 and through social media on Facebook and Twitter and the local media. Residents can also call 985-809-2300 for recorded updates. Sign up to receive automatic email updates from the Parish on our website, www.stpgov.org.

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About St. Tammany Corporation: As the lead economic development organization for St. Tammany, the St. Tammany Corporation functions as the comprehensive resource center for business formation throughout the parish. The services provided by the St. Tammany Corporation include, but are not limited to, business retention, site selection, workforce development, research and data services, state and local incentives, business attraction, talent retention, certified site development, relocation support, and marketing St. Tammany.

St. Tammany Parish Extended Stay At Home Order issued April 30, 2020 (Available at www.stpgov.org/covid19-declarations by end of day 04/30/2020)

St. Tammany Parish Extended Stay At Home Order issued April 7, 2020

St. Tammany Parish Executive Stay At Home Order issued March 23, 2020

Emergency Declaration issued March 17, 2020

Emergency Declaration issued March 13, 2020

COVID-19 Links

St. Tammany Parish Government

CDC

Office of Governor John Bel Edwards

Louisiana Department of Health

Today, St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper announced his appointments to the St. Tammany Economic Recovery and Resiliency Advisory Council. This Advisory Council was formalized on April 20^th to establish the Live Safe. Work Safe. Shop Safe. Action Plan and re-opening strategy following the Governor’s April 30, 2020 expiration of the concurrent Stay At Home Orders for the state and parish. Cooper tapped Chris Masingill, CEO of St. Tammany Corporation, to spearhead the two phases of the Advisory Council’s scope of work.

Members of the Advisory Council are:

Sandy Badinger – Chief Executive Officer, Slidell Memorial Hospital 

Rhonda Bagby – Market Vice-President, Humana Health and Chairwoman, Northshore Business Council Board of Directors

Susan Bonnett Bourgeois – Chief Executive Officer, Northshore Community Foundation

Tiffany Carrasco – CAO and Deputy Chief, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office

Alan Case – Vice-President, Lowry-Dunham, Case & Vivien Insurance Agency and Board Member, St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce

Joan Coffman – Chief Executive Officer, St. Tammany Parish Hospital

Kyle Cooper – Cooper Homes and President, Northshore Homebuilders Association

Bonnie Eades – Executive Director, Northshore Business Council

Chief Chris Kaufmann – St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection District #1 and St. Tammany Fire Chiefs Association President

Marty Mayer – President and Chief Executive Officer, Stirling Properties and Chairman, St. Tammany Corporation Board of Commissioners

Gretchen McKinney – Owner & Principal Consultant, increment, LLC and Vice Chairwoman, St. Tammany Society for Human Resource Management Board of Directors

Mark Myers – Attorney, Resolutions by Mark A. Myers, P.L.C., Chairman, St. Tammany Parish Tourist & Convention Commission and Chairman, Harbor Center Board of Directors

Donna O’Daniels – Chief Executive Officer, St. Tammany Parish Tourist & Convention Commission

Lacey Osborne – Chief Executive Officer, St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce

Dr. Charles Preston – St. Tammany Parish Coroner

Mike Tillman – Vice-President of Global Strategy & Raw Materials, Rain Carbon and Vice-President, St. Tammany Corporation Board of Commissioners

“The health and well-being of our community is the most important aspect of our recovery, and I feel confident that every member of this group is focused on what is best for St. Tammany on all fronts. I want to thank them for their time and service, Cooper said. “We have worked hard as a community to slow the spread of COVID-19. As we plan to gradually re-open, I want to remind everyone that we need to stay the course over the coming days. We each have the choice to either detract from our progress or to contribute to our recovery. Let’s all choose to move toward recovery, so our plan can be implemented.”

“We are living through unprecedented times; both for public safety and economic conditions for our communities and businesses. We are proud to be asked by President Cooper to help lead the efforts to coordinate St. Tammany’s back to work plan that balances the health of our people and the health of our economy,” says St. Tammany Corporation CEO Chris Masingill. “We will be working with all sectors of our economy and healthcare experts to make sure we have the appropriate plan in place that prioritizes public health and safety as we gradually re-open our business operations under a new normal. We take our role and responsibility to the people of St. Tammany very seriously and the St. Tammany Corporation will continue to dedicate its focus and energy to protect, grow and respond to the needs of St. Tammany so we can continue to be the destination of choice for our people, our businesses and our communities to thrive.”

In the first phase, the Advisory Council is tasked with developing short-term re-opening framework to address the needs of St. Tammany Parish, while at the same time, taking into consideration the health and safety of St. Tammany residents and the needs of our entire region. The Advisory Council will use standards put forth by the White House, the Governor’s Office and other industry-related resources, to draft recommendations including: the timelines for the phased re-opening of the business and the recommended protocols for businesses using state and federal guidelines as well as industry recommendations.  During phase one, the Council will include representatives from both the private and public sectors, including the private and healthcare and hospitals, public agencies, elected officials, non-profit organizations, and the business community.

As phase two unfolds, the Council will be expanded to include elected officials and a broader spectrum of business, healthcare, and community partners to plan long-term recovery strategies.

St. Tammany Corporation is soliciting public comment and feedback to help shape the back to work and re-opening plan for St. Tammany Parish. Submissions can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Every submission will be read and given to the Advisory Council for consideration.

The Advisory Council is expected to submit preliminary guidelines for phase one to President Cooper by Friday, April 24, 2020.

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St. Tammany Parish Extended Stay At Home Order issued April 7, 2020

St. Tammany Parish Executive Stay At Home Order issued March 23, 2020

Emergency Declaration issued March 17, 2020

Emergency Declaration issued March 13, 2020

COVID-19 Links

St. Tammany Parish Government

CDC

Office of Governor John Bel Edwards

Louisiana Department of Health