How Adam Engelhard and Andy Halpern Are Teaching Companies To Reopen During The Pandemic

We all see what is going on around us currently, and over the past several months: restaurants, retail stores, gyms and even fortune 500 companies have all had to shut down at some point due to the COVID-19 outbreak. But now that new regulations and phases are starting to happen across the country to allow these companies to get their employees back into the office and customers back in too; they need to follow the rules and ensure everyone is safe!

That is where Adam Engelhard and his business partner Andy Halpern come in to help. The duo created C19-Certified, which is a brand new compliance training e-learning program that was created specifically for COVID-19, based on the new regulations and federal guidelines that companies are reopening need to follow. In short, the program teaches and certifies business owners how to operate their business with confidence during and post COVID-19 with steps on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, social distancing training/regulations, and other best practices for various types of industries.

To find out more on the program and how it has been spreading across the United States to help companies reopen, we spoke to the two masterminds behind it.

How did you get the idea to start and create the C19-Certified learning program?

Initially we wanted to use this as a way to help the film industry get back up and running safely. Ultimately, we realized a digital training program was an excellent solution for all businesses looking to operate safely in the new normal. We were able to team up with Dr. Paul Scheinberg, and respected attorney David Cooper and the C19 Certified program was born.

Since your courses are new in the COVID-19 age, how do you feel you have been disrupting the industry overall?

We are doing our best to provide a solution to help people feel safe in their everyday lives during all of this.

What key factors should businesses take into account when reopening? What types of topics does your program cover?

Businesses need to make sure (i) they have a formal plan to mitigate coronavirus related risk when operating that adheres to state and local regulations, (ii) they need to make sure they communicate this plan to employees, customers and vendors, and (iii) they must demonstrate a commitment to safety to restore customer confidence. Businesses must ensure that their workforce is educated on all these things as education is the most important. A company can open itself up to a good amount of liability if they don’t take the time to educate their workforce. We cover everything from coronavirus symptoms and spreads, how to properly wear a mask and gloves, and ultimately how to clean and disinfect surfaces.

What are the key factors entrepreneurs should evaluate when starting and running their company?

I think having realistic goals in place is essential to success. You don’t have to hit a home run on every deal, it’s more important to just get on the base and continue advancing.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Don’t be scared to cold call anyone. A pretty big Hollywood agent laid this concept into me, and even though it’s simple, my networking has thrived from it. A lot of those relationships are the ones who are helping me out with my endeavors daily.

What is something you would do differently if you were given the chance?

I wouldn’t do anything differently. I think everything is a learning experience, and to change my past would be to lose out on valuable learning experiences.

What does the rest of 2020 look like for your company?

Until there is a vaccine, we are going to continue helping businesses operate as safely as possible. We’re considering expanding into online workshops or even potentially in-person training sessions later in the year.

Why should every business take your certification course?

As we are seeing more and more cases each day and more businesses being forced to shut down, it’s apparent the coronavirus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. We give Companies a key tool to mitigate the risk of coronavirus spread in their office. We don’t guarantee that people don’t become sick; however, we do guarantee that people are educated on the best practices not to spread the infection – we hope this keeps companies from having to completely stop operations if an individual employee becomes sick. Businesses need to minimize risk and prove their commitment to safety!