Manufacturing is essential to Minnesota and the country and many manufacturing businesses will be exempt from Minnesota new law that goes into effect March 27, 2020.
Here’ what we know, in Minnesota from midnight on Friday March 27, 2020 to midnight on Friday April, 10, 2020, all people living in Minnesota are ordered to stay at their home or residence (as specifically defined) except to engage in activities in critical (essential) sectors, that include certain manufacturing sectors and activities. The order does not restrict virtual work or telework in any field, essentially working from home. There will judgement that goes into determining if an employee or company is working in a critical sector. There are three resources that provide guidance to help with this:
https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/covid/employers/
- The Governor’s Executive Order 20-20
- US Department of Homeland Security Memo on identification of essential critical infrastructure workers during COVID-19 response
- List of NAICS codes determined to be critical industries
Critical Manufacturing defined in Order 20-20: This category is limited to critical manufacturing workers listed in the CISA Guidance (US Department of Homeland Security -Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency). This category includes iron ore mining and processing operations and supplier/vendor industries essential to such mining and processing operations.
CISA defines critical manufacturing as the following: Workers necessary for the manufacturing of materials and products needed for medical supply chains, and for supply chains associated with transportation, energy, communications, food and agriculture, chemical manufacturing, nuclear facilities, the operation of dams, water and wastewater treatment, emergency services, and the defense industrial base. Additionally, under the category of food there are several qualifying activities.
The following specific manufacturing business are defined as critical:
| Industry Description | Industry Code | Critical Industry |
| Metal Ore Mining | 2122 | YES |
| Support Activities for Mining | 2131 | YES |
| Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing | 3113 | YES |
| Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing | 3114 | YES |
| Dairy Product Manufacturing | 3115 | YES |
| Animal Slaughtering and Processing | 3116 | YES |
| Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing | 3118 | YES |
| Other Food Manufacturing | 3119 | YES |
| Beverage Manufacturing | 3121 | YES |
| Converted Paper Product Manufacturing | 3222 | YES |
| Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing | 3241 | YES |
| Basic Chemical Manufacturing | 3251 | YES |
| Pesticide, Fertilizer, and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing | 3253 | YES |
| Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing | 3254 | YES |
| Soap, Cleaning Compound, and Toilet Preparation Manufacturing | 3256 | YES |
| Other Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing | 3259 | YES |
| Plastics Product Manufacturing | 3261 | YES |
| Rubber Product Manufacturing | 3262 | YES |
| Steel Product Manufacturing from Purchased Steel | 3312 | YES |
| Alumina and Aluminum Production and Processing | 3313 | YES |
| Foundries | 3315 | YES |
| Forging and Stamping | 3321 | YES |
| Boiler, Tank, and Shipping Container Manufacturing | 3324 | YES |
| Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing | 3327 | YES |
| Agriculture, Construction, and Mining Machinery Manufacturing | 3331 | YES |
| Industrial Machinery Manufacturing | 3332 | YES |
| Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing | 3333 | YES |
| Ventilation, Heating, Air-Conditioning, and Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturing | 3334 | YES |
| Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing | 3341 | YES |
| Communications Equipment Manufacturing | 3342 | YES |
| Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing | 3343 | YES |
| Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing | 3344 | YES |
| Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing | 3345 | YES |
| Electrical Equipment Manufacturing | 3353 | YES |
| Other Electrical Equipment and Component Manufacturing | 3359 | YES |
| Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing | 3391 | YES |
For more information, contact Randy Feld, CPA at rfeld@myboyum.com