March 16, 2020 (Updated March 20, 2020)

March 20 Update: On Thursday, March 19, the Governor of Pennsylvania mandated the closure of all businesses that are not life-sustaining to combat the spread of COVID-19. While we consider all businesses to be life-sustaining, especially to the people who depend on them, SSPC falls into a category on the Governor’s list requiring us to close our office. As such, SSPC World Headquarters in Pittsburgh will be closed until further notice.  While the physical location will be closed, SSPC staff will continue to work remotely to support our members and handle requests for test scores, certificates, wallet cards, membership cards, and training course materials. All staff have the capability to respond to voicemail and email, and conduct remote meetings via GoTo Meetings and other technologies.  If you need to reach someone at SSPC and don’t have their email or their phone number, please send a message to [email protected] or call 412-281-2331 and they will return your message.

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March 16 – In recent days, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as cities and counties throughout the state, have taken actions to curb the spread of COVID-19. All K-12 schools within the state have been closed for two weeks, starting today, Monday, March 16th.  Most universities have switched to online instruction and at least partially closed their facilities. Large public gatherings have been prohibited for the foreseeable future, and non-essential businesses, defined by Allegheny County as child care and senior centers, community and recreation centers, gyms and similar facilities, hair salons, nail salons and spas, casinos, bars, concert venues, theaters, some retail, social clubs, sports facilities, etc., have been advised to close, curtail their hours or provide remote work options for their staff.

Requests have come from Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald, and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto for other businesses to voluntarily permit their employees to work from home. Based on these requests, and SSPC’s desire to be a part of the solution to this crisis, SSPC is taking the following measures:

• SSPC staff will begin working from home on Tuesday, March 17th for the rest of the week.
• Classes scheduled to be held at SSPC Headquarters starting March 23rd through the end of March will be postponed or rescheduled.
• A small crew of people will maintain operations in the office to ensure that certificates, wallet cards, membership cards, and course materials are prepped and shipped on time.
• Phone calls to the office will be monitored and responded to as quickly as possible.
• The policy will be reviewed and revised on a week-to-week basis depending on the how long the crisis continues.

We recognize that the industry depends on us to provide key resources and great customer service to our constituents, and we will make every effort to continue doing that during this emergency. We appreciate your patience in the days ahead as we make these adjustments to our daily schedule.

The safety and well-being of our staff, our members, and their families are of the utmost importance to us and we believe that by taking these actions now, not only can we protect the health of those involved, but we can also continue to fulfill the mission of SSPC to the best of our ability.

Please direct any questions about upcoming classes, product orders, or other concerns to [email protected] and our team will respond in a timely manner.