This week, Burlington-headquartered life-sciences company LabCorp announced it received an Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its COVID-19 at-home test kit.

​The kits will be offered through the Pixel by LabCorp™ platform and initially be made available to healthcare workers and first responders.

LabCorp intends to make COVID-19 self-collection kits available to consumers in the coming weeks. Future updates about the self-collection kits can be found on LabCorp’s COVID-19 microsite. 

"LabCorp continues to develop new ways to help patients and healthcare providers fight the COVID-19 crisis through our leading testing capabilities and deep scientific and research expertise,” said Adam Schechter, president and CEO of LabCorp. “Our at-home collection kits are designed to make it easier and safer to test healthcare workers and first responders during this important time.”

LabCorp's leadership in the response to COVID-19 and their commitment to providing fast, accurate solutions to the healthcare community are critical in this pandemic.  Alamance County is thankful to be home to LabCorp and the many dedicated scientists, technicians and their support staffs who are delivering for the world!  

​In a time of national crisis, our citizens, governments and businesses are pulling together in creative ways to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to dire needs, we’ve seen North Carolina’s textile companies switching to making personal protective equipment (PPE), our distilleries pivoting to hand sanitizer production, and the innovative college departments and makerspaces throughout the state are using 3D printers make medical devices. 

Likewise, Burlington and Alamance County enjoy a close-knit community full of caring individuals, companies and innovators who have shown remarkable ingenuity to help solve local COVID-19 problems with local resources.  
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Laura Stanfield, director of the emergency department at Cone Health Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington, recently leveraged our local network to solve a problem she recognized coronavirus treatment would bring.

​Important Update: Grant Opportunity - Applications Available NOW

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation is launching the “Save Small Business Fund” for certain zip codes across the country. Small businesses that employ between 3 and 20 people and have been harmed financially by the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible for the $5,000 grant.

The application will go live on April 20, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. PT and will only take a few minutes to complete. All you will need is your business’s W-9 form. Grants will be awarded on a weekly basis, but you only need to apply one time to be eligible for funding.

For more information about this opportunity, visit the page linked below. On this page, there is also the option to sign up to receive an email notification when the application goes live!

​The current state of the nation’s economy has taken a major impact during the COVID-19 era and current small businesses have suffered greatly. If you had plans on starting a new business you may feel that the timing is not right and possibly surrender any idea you may have of being an entrepreneur. Though many sectors of the economy have seen a downturn, startups can gain a new foothold during this time.

Startups are exciting! Entrepreneurs can provide creative ways to provide new experiences to consumers. If you’re serious about starting a company, now is the perfect time to get yourself setup for success. I provided answers to frequently asked questions. I enjoy working with small businesses and I want to help Alamance County businesses and startups and I’m willing to listen to any of your questions or concerns.

Now that the PPP is out of funds, what's next? Another wave of legislation at the Federal level seems inevitable, but in the meantime there are more programs from the CARES Act they may be of interest to business, especially those with loans they would like to refinance.

Check out the document below for the Treasury Department's guide on the Exchange Stabilization Fund and pay particular attention to the Main Street Lending portion of the guide.  
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As always, reach out if you have questions or need guidance. 

For many businesses, you are scouring the internet for all of the available resources you can access to help you get through this pandemic. Most of the media and business attention has been focused on the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of the SBA - and the frustrations in applying, getting an SBA lender and getting cash out of these programs.

This post will examine some of the tax credits that are unlocked in the  the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.  The CARES act created a new employee retention tax credit for employers who are closed, partially closed, or experiencing significant revenue losses as a result of COVID-19.

The analysis inserted below is from the US Chamber of Commerce . Continue reading this blog post below the insert for eligibility requirements and guidance on the program. 

Small businesses reeling from the coronavirus pandemic have been thrown a lifeline through the Congress and the $2.2 Trillion Cares Act, a combination of loans, grants and tax policy changes designed to keep businesses afloat and capitalized until the world and economy returns to normalcy. 

The Small Business Administration has made available Economic Injury Disaster Loans as a recurring source of loan funds during natural disasters and now again during this public health crisis. The Federal Government has also passed the $2.2 Trillion Cares Act and has placed additional assistance for small businesses as one of it's top priorities. 

The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million. Additionally, small business owners are eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of up to $10,000. The loan advance will provide economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. Funds will be made available within three days of a successful application, and this loan advance will not have to be repaid.

Through the CARES Act, a new resource is available to American businesses called the Paycheck Protection Program. The Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) authorizes up to $349 Billion in forgivable loans to small businesses to pay their employees during the COVID-19 crisis. All loan terms will be the same for everyone. These loans are forgivable after certain criteria have been met and the application for this program opens today, April 3! However, many lending institutions have remarked that their processes for taking in these applications will likely be delayed to next week.

Below you will see a document outlining the differences between the two programs that may help you decide if you should apply for one or both loan funds. Click here for a link to the full list of resources offered by the SBA.

A word of advice, businesses are allowed to double dip into both the EIDL and PPP, but PPP is much more restrictive on it’s uses, so when applying, use it for payroll and use the EIDL for other bills like utilities and rent. 

If you were looking for an infographic to help understand the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program, take a look at what local agency Ethos Creative Group put together for Alamance Strong! 

Here's the US Treasury Department's Homepage on PPP
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