As highlighted in a previous article, the COVID Recovery Program (CRP) is a collaborative initiative among partners – SEWN, NWIRC, Rapid Response, and the Clarion and Gannon Universities Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). This Program provides accurate and timely assistance to companies in northwest and north central PA counties. Information gathered from companies is used to identify one or more partners who can provide specific, targeted assistance to businesses during this critical time as PA businesses are moving into the yellow. The below infographic can be downloaded for more information. To participate in the Program, businesses located in Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Lawr

Several local manufacturers have stepped up to help address shortages of Personal Protective Equipment, (PPE), hand sanitizer, Covid-19 tests and life sustaining hospital equipment. Below are a few of the stories but we suspect there are many more heros in this fight and invite you to share your stories with us. This pandemic caught us all by surprise and the order to close all non-essential businesses on March 19th rocked our world. This decision of who is essential and who is non-essential failed to consider many of us that are in the supply chain of manufacturing medical supplies & equipment. Therefore many Alliance members that did not make the list of essential businesses but should hav

The US Small Business Administration has released its official Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan Forgiveness Application Form and Instructions. Businesses who receive a PPP loan must submit the forgiveness application through their lender so that the loan effectively becomes a grant. Links for their guidance as well as the application are below. SBA INSTRUCTIONS AND APPLICATION SBA PAYCHECK PROTECTION OVERVIEW This simplified process includes options for borrowers to calculate payroll costs; flexibility to include eligible payroll/non-payroll expenses; and step-by-step instructions. The PPP was implemented through the CARES Act to distribute forgivable loans to eligible small businesses

The COVID Recovery Program (CRP) is a collaborative initiative among local partners – SEWN, NWIRC, Rapid Response, and the Clarion and Gannon Universities Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). This Program provides accurate and timely assistance to companies in northwest and north central PA counties. Information gathered from companies is used to identify one or more partners who can provide specific, targeted assistance to businesses during this critical time as PA businesses are moving into the yellow. To participate in the Program, businesses located in Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties need to take a short five minute survey. The busine

The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry (PA Chamber) announced Tuesday the launching of its new website for the “Bringing PA Back” initiative, which is intended to help businesses across the Commonwealth safely re-open their facilities and jumpstart the economy. “Now that the Commonwealth has worked together to successfully slow the growth of COVID-19, we’re entering the re-opening phase – which means it is critical for businesses to receive the information they need in order to safely re-open their facilities,” PA Chamber President and CEO Gene Barr said. “Our ‘Bringing PA Back’ initiative aims to do just that with a user- friendly website that will help employers as they prepare

SVA/SEWN assisted in the coordination of connecting WESA with manufacturers we have worked with in the past. Thank you to those who were willing to share their story. Considered essential businesses, many manufacturers have been exempted from Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown order. Some now find themselves with almost too many orders, while others don't have nearly enough. But almost all are facing unexpected challenges from the coronavirus. Among those finding success — at least for now — is IngMar Medical, based in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood. Company president Stefan Frembgen said that when the shutdown order took effect more than six weeks ago, he initially worried about the impact th

The Small Business Administration (SBA), in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, intends to provide timely additional guidance to address borrower and lender questions concerning the implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), established by section 1102 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or the Act). This document will be updated on a regular basis. Borrowers and lenders may rely on the guidance provided in this document as SBA’s interpretation of the CARES Act and of the Paycheck Protection Program Interim Final Rules (“PPP Interim Final Rules”) (link). The U.S. government will not challenge lender PPP actions that conform to