April 23, 2020 (Scottsdale, AZ) - The Professional Beauty Association (PBA), the largest and most inclusive membership association representing the professional beauty industry has helped connect, educate, celebrate and fight for the community it serves; one that has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, by raising over $1 million dollars for its COVID-19 Relief Fund, developing a comprehensive safety and success plan to guide salons back-to-work , kicking off new federal legislation to support the beauty industry, and introducing a new and exciting 2021 North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA) entry plan to accommodate the current climate and embrace creativity.

PBA COVID-19 RELIEF FUND

Developed to help support the licensed beauty professionals who have not been able to work and/or are experiencing financial hardships due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the PBA COVID-19 Relief Fund has raised over $1MM to date, helping to support thousands of out-of-work beauty professionals with essentials. The industry has rallied to support this fund, with recent donors including Alterna, Joico, Kenra, mydentity, Pravana, Schwarzkopf, Sexyhair, Zotos, Amazon Professional Beauty, Bellami Hair, and more.

The PBA continues to call on industry suppliers, consumers, and the industry itself to participate in the tax-deductible fundraising efforts for this fund to help reach and exceed its $2.5MM goal.

The impact this fund has provided to date is priceless; a PBA member recently shared, “I love you guys like family. You helped me in my weakest moment. You gave me hope. You gave me strength.”

Funds are awarded on a daily and weekly basis, as available money comes in, and 100% of funds go directly back to these beauty professionals. As a non-profit 501(c)3 industry association, procuring additional tax-deductible donations for the COVID-19 Fund will enable the PBA to continue to assist more beauty professionals in need. Visit https://www.probeauty.org/pba-charities/covid-19-relief-fund to donate, see a full list of sponsors, and current campaigns supporting relief efforts.

BACK TO WORK PLAN

The PBA has developed a comprehensive plan for getting back to work safely, providing the following resources:

• Back to Work Guidelines: PBA has partnered with Barbicide and Leslie Roste, RN, BSN, a leading industry infection control specialist, to create health, safety and sanitization guidelines for going back to work, available at https://www.probeauty.org/membership-resources/coronavirus. These guidelines have been shared with state and local government agencies as a reference to distribute, as well.
• Prepping for Success Webinar Series: This new webinar series covers everything from sanitation practices to pricing strategy and stress reduction to help the industry get ready for going back to work. To register for this series, please visit https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/104175834286959118
• Salon Owner Webinar Series: This new series provides useful information on how to best engage employees, hiring practices, software tools, and related resources to help salon owners develop best practices for the new normal. Registration will be available soon at www.probeauty.org

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

The PBA has been working hard to help ensure new federal legislation includes the beauty industry, who as a whole have been overlooked. Currently, the PBA is actively lobbying for a federal extension of the Section 45B FICA tax tip credit as part of the stimulus package to efficiently provide an immediate cash infusion for salon, spa and barbershop employers. Additionally, the PBA is staying closely connected with all legislation, as well as local states, to ensure consistent information exchange that it can then pass along to the industry, accordingly. For more information, please visit: https://www.probeauty.org/membershipresources/coronavirus.

NAHA 2021

In response to the world’s coronavirus pandemic, PBA has revamped this year’s North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA) entry process to spark creativity and inclusivity. Entries open on June 11th, 2020 and close on October 2nd, which is an extended time frame to accommodate current federal and local Stay Home orders. For detailed information on these updates, please visit https://www.probeauty.org/events-programs/naha. Adjustments include:

• Two new categories: Inspiring Salon of the Year and Educator of the year
• Eliminating categories: “Nail,” “Newcomer,” and “Salon Design” categories have been eliminated from the 2021 program.
• New rules: This year, NAHA entry collections may be published prior to entry, and can be submitted to other regional, national or international competitions. The “Editorial Stylist of the Year” category also enables editorial work published in any consumer media outlet from September 1, 2019 through September 1, 2020 to be submitted.
• Interactive weekly creative Instagram conversations to help navigate not only this new territory, but to help artists create their most inspired NAHA collection ever. Hosted by Michael Shaun Corby, scheduled guests include previous winners and industry icons, including Christopher Dove, John Simpson, Tabatha Coffey, Charlie Price, Damien Carney, BABAK, and Jamie DiGrazia.