Hey Millionaires . . .
I’m posting here to ensure all members and interested stakeholders know about The Mill’s plans for the coronavirus. Quite literally, new information comes out every hour which changes the situation every hour, so here’s our updated plan.
The headline is: The Mill will close for the next two weeks.
The sub-headline is: Hot desk members will have digital key access to collect their items through Noon tomorrow, which is Wednesday, March 18th. After that time, all doors will be locked until Monday, March 30th. Designated desk and office suite members will have digital key access through then but to pick up personal items only. We’ll re-evaluate and communicate our plans before March 30th.
One housekeeping item: FedEx & UPS will hold packages for 7 days before they are returned to sender, USPS will hold for 30 days. If you need mail delivered in the next two weeks have it forwarded to your home at https://www.usps.com/manage/forward.htm.
The details:
For the last month, I’ve been monitoring the situation with the coronavirus. And for the last week, I’ve specifically been looking for the canary in the coal mine. That is, the indicator that’s it’s time for us shut down too.
Over the weekend, some OSHA level 3 companies shut down, i.e. Apple and REI, which are retail and high-frequency contact.
Yesterday, Indiana became the last state to make it official for some OSHA level 2 companies in the Midwest. Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio are shutting down restaurants, bars, and pubs for dine-in service. These are social and close-contact.
As a coworking space, The Mill is OSHA level 1. While it’s low-risk exposure, it’s time for us to close now too. Given that our purpose is literally to bring the community together, doing so will mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
When the problem is doubling every 6 days, you have to hit it with a sledgehammer so closing – even in a low-risk environment – is the right decision. A measure that is perceived as a 2x over-reaction this week will be seen as a 50% under-reaction in just 12 days.
Remember that our community is on Slack, and we encourage everyone to be active there. From Alison: “Good morning, everybody! I know we’ve got a lot of folks working remote and I wanted to let you know to still stay tuned on our slack channels so we can support each other from afar. More than ever we want to maintain our sense of community and stay connected while keeping our social distance. Reach out if you need anything, keep your chins up, and stay in touch (virtually)!” We’re at https://dimensionmill.slack.com/.
Thank you for your patience and flexibility as we work together to keep everyone as healthy and safe as possible. We are all dealing with extraordinary times. The Mill is a not-for-profit COMMUNITY made up by all of us and we need you to pitch in now so that it’s easier for your neighbor in the long-run.
And thank you to our staff who has been working on our coronavirus plan with me, too. I could not have done this without Sam, Alison, and Melissa.
If you need emergency access to the building or you have questions you know how to get a hold of me – email (pat at dimensionmill dot org), text (317.965.2155), or DM me on Slack.