Mar 31, 2020 2 min read

Taking care of business isn’t easy for anyone anywhere, it seems, during this COVID-19 pandemic.

For Dennis Davin, taking care of businesses is essential. Davin, a Pittsburgh native, is secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development, and he understands there are dozens of questions related to orders that Gov. Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Rachel Levine have instituted to reduce the coronavirus spread.

He said his department has a lot of answers for businesses, stakeholders and others.

“DCED has a number of helpful resources that can help businesses through this difficult time,” Davin said. “We continue to urge businesses to frequent DCED’s resource page (www.dced.pa.gov/resources),” which he said is updated regularly and features contact information. He added that “our staff is here to help during this unprecedented time.”

His department has been updating a Frequently Asked Questions document, which provides answers to questions about “life-sustaining” types of businesses and others authorized to continue.

Resources include life-sustaining versus non-life-sustaining guidance; stay-at-home guidance; business guidance; and employee and worker guidance.

Wolf last week announced the formation of a new funding source to assist small businesses affected by the outbreak. It’s called the COVID-19 Working Capital Access program, which operates under the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority’s Small Business First Fund.

CWCA loans of up to $100,000 are available to small businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees – at a low interest rate, with no application fees, and payments and interest waived the first year of the loan.

“This is a first step in the right direction to help our small businesses,” state Sen. Patrick Stefano, R-Bullskin Township, said of those loans.