Air quality alert for Michigan small business owners.
Canadian wildfire smoke is bringing very unhealthy air quality to much of the Lower Peninsula. This alert is based on guidance from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the AirNow national air quality monitoring network; conditions are changing quickly and forecasts are subject to change, so check the live sources below before making decisions. Here's what MBBA members need to know, and a toolkit to help you protect your team, your customers, and your business.
A message from our President & CEO
Charity DeanDear Family,
I encourage all our members across the state to take the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy's (EGLE) statewide Air Quality Alert seriously.
Canadian wildfire smoke continues to impact Michigan, with Very Unhealthy (AQI Purple) conditions expected across much of the Lower Peninsula through Friday, and air quality ranging from Very Unhealthy to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups on Saturday. Officials also expect smoke to persist into Sunday as wildfire activity continues. These figures come from Michigan EGLE and the AirNow monitoring network, and are forecasts — actual conditions can change quickly, so please check current readings before making decisions for your business.
For small businesses, this is both a public health and economic issue. Our businesses are powered by people, and protecting the health of employees, customers, and our communities should always come first.
I encourage members to:
- Monitor local air quality conditions before outdoor work or events.
- Consider adjusting outdoor operations, events, or business hours if conditions warrant.
- Encourage employees to limit strenuous outdoor activity, particularly those with asthma, heart disease, or other respiratory conditions.
- Watch for symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, dizziness, or burning of the eyes, nose, and throat.
- Keep doors and windows closed when possible, and use air filtration systems with MERV-13 or higher filters if available.
We also recognize that poor air quality creates real challenges for small businesses, from reduced customer traffic to operational disruptions. Public health and economic health are deeply connected. Healthy businesses depend on healthy people.
To support our members, MBBA is preparing a Small Business Air Quality Toolkit with practical guidance, communication templates, and trusted resources to help businesses navigate these conditions. The toolkit will be shared on our social media channels, distributed via email, and available on our website as we continue to monitor the situation.
Please take care of yourselves, your teams, and your communities.
Wildfire Smoke Business Toolkit
Protecting your team, customers & businessKnow before you open
Before opening your business or sending employees outdoors, check local air quality. Wildfire smoke can create unhealthy conditions even when the sky doesn't appear especially smoky — health officials recommend reducing outdoor exposure once air quality reaches unhealthy levels.
Consider temporary business adjustments
Every business is different, but consider:
- Moving customers indoors when possible
- Offering curbside pickup or delivery
- Delaying outdoor events
- Adjusting outdoor work schedules
- Allowing flexible work arrangements when feasible
Protect employees
If employees must work outdoors:
- Increase indoor breaks
- Encourage hydration
- Reduce strenuous outdoor work when possible
- Provide N95 masks if outdoor work cannot be avoided
- Encourage employees experiencing respiratory symptoms to notify management
Where to get N95 masks: look for masks marked "NIOSH-approved" on the packaging.
- Pharmacies: CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, and most independent pharmacies
- Hardware stores: Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware (often sold near paint or safety equipment)
- Big-box and grocery stores: Meijer, Target, Walmart, Costco
- Online: Amazon, or directly from NIOSH-approved manufacturers (3M, Honeywell)
Customer communication
Ready-to-use captions you can copy and adapt for your own channels:
"Due to today's air quality advisory, we're adjusting our operations to protect our staff and customers. Please check our page for updated hours and services. Thank you for your patience and continued support. 💛 #MichiganSmallBusiness #AirQualityAlert"
"Air quality advisory in effect — we've adjusted our hours today to keep our team and customers safe. Updates here: [your link]. Thanks for understanding!"
"Temporary hours update due to air quality advisory. Check back for the latest, or call us at [phone number]."
If you must close early
Communicate early, and include:
- Updated hours
- When customers should expect another update
- Online ordering or delivery options, if available
- Ways customers can continue supporting your business
A simple emergency policy for employees
If you don't already have something written down, here's a short policy you can adopt as-is or adjust:
- When it applies: Any day EGLE or AirNow lists your county at Unhealthy or worse.
- Outdoor work: Paused or minimized; move tasks indoors where possible.
- Symptoms: Any employee with coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, or dizziness should stop outdoor activity immediately and notify a manager.
- High-risk employees: Staff with asthma, COPD, heart disease, or who are pregnant may request indoor duties or flexible scheduling without needing to disclose a diagnosis.
- Pay & scheduling: State clearly whether adjusted hours are paid, unpaid, or made up later — decide this before the emergency, not during it.
- Who decides: Name one person (owner or shift lead) responsible for checking air quality each morning and making the call to adjust operations.
- Documentation: Keep a simple log of the date, AQI reading, and what changed — useful for your own records and for any staff questions later.
We're here to help
If your business has adjusted hours, postponed an event, moved indoors, or launched a new way to serve customers because of the air quality, let us know. MBBA will help amplify member updates through our social media channels whenever possible so customers know how to continue supporting your business.
Healthy businesses depend on healthy people. During events like these, protecting both isn't just good public health — it's good business.
Contact us at hello@blackbizalliance.com