The final call is up to state and local officials, but DHS has put together a list of the industries it considers essential to the “security, national economic security, national public health or safety” of the country. Apparently, they didn’t like referring to businesses or workers as “essential,” so they came up with the designation “critical infrastructure.” (It does sound pretty impressive, but a good English teacher will tell you not to use two words when one will suffice.) 

Essential Businesses in the Pandemic

Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21): PPD-21 has designated 16 industries as critical infrastructure sectors. To be considered part of the nation’s critical infrastructure, a business’s “assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.”

Critical infrastructure businesses include:

• Chemical Sector
• Commercial Facilities Sector
• Communications Sector
• Critical Manufacturing Sector
• Dams Sector
• Defense Industrial Base Sector
• Emergency Services Sector
• Energy Sector
• Financial Services Sector
• Food and Agriculture Sector
• Government Facilities Sector
• Healthcare and Public Health Sector
• Information Technology Sector
• Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste Sector
• Transportation Systems Sector
• Water and Wastewater Systems Sector

Remember though, our state officials as well as local officials in Tampa have a say, too, and that could make a difference. 

If you’re not sure whether your business can be considered essential or if you’re unsure which safety guidelines apply to your small business in Tampa, you can contact Tampa CPA and business consultant Brian Sanders.

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