Second round of business funding awarded
Two Washington County businesses are among the 160 companies across the state to benefit from the second round of state funding, $13.5 million, which was announced Sunday.
In a news release, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin included a list of companies to benefit from the second round of the COVID-19 Working Capital Access Program (CWCA).
On that list were Model Uniforms LLC in Charleroi and Peacock Keller LLP, a law firm in Washington. Each was awarded $100,000 loans last week.
They join six other companies that received funding from the program earlier in the month. According to the DCED website, Washington County businesses have received $785,800 in total.
The program across the state has totaled more than $23 million in funding for businesses.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced Saturday that the Commonwealth Financing Authority transferred $40 million to the Small Business First Fund for CWCA. In his Saturday news release, Wolf said the state’s Industrial Development Authority made $61 million available for the fund to distribute loans of $100,000 or less to businesses with fewer than 100 full-time employees.
“These loans will help businesses in the commonwealth quickly access capital to address their critical needs while we continue to follow the governor and health secretary’s orders,” Davin said in the release. “Small businesses are the fabric of our commonwealth, and the Wolf Administration is committed to supporting them to the fullest extent during this unprecedented time.”
On Sunday, the statewide number positive COVID-19 cases rose to 41,165, an increase of 1,116 cases. The statewide deaths increased by another 13 as of early Sunday morning, bringing the total to 1,550.
In Washington County, the positive cases have reached triple digits at 101, though the recorded deaths have remained at two. No new deaths or cases were reported Sunday in either Fayette or Greene counties. Allegheny County had no new deaths and 13 new cases, bringing its total cases to 1,211.
Most of the patients hospitalized are aged 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older. There have been no pediatric deaths, according to the Department of Health.
“As we see the number of new COVID-19 cases continuously change across the state that does not mean we can stop practicing social distancing,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in Sunday’s news release. “We must continue to stay home to protect ourselves, our families and our community. If you must go out, please make as few trips as possible and wear a mask to protect not only yourself, but others. We need all Pennsylvanians to continue to heed these efforts to protect our vulnerable Pennsylvanians, our health care workers and frontline responders.”