It's the final countdown—less than 8 months left to get it all done. At PECO, safety is our top priority. As part of our commitment to safety, we're continuing to monitor developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and taking appropriate precautions to protect the health and safety of our employees, contractors and customers. Learn more about ways we can help. Don't let time run out on your chance to get financial incentives from PECO for making energy-efficient upgrades to your lighting, HVAC, refrigeration and more. Planning for, purchasing and installing equipment may take longer than you initially expect, but financial incentives from PECO will expire May 15, 2021, or earlier if funds run out. Connect...

CEO Access Network matches C-suite, established executives from Chamber member companies with small business owners from underrepresented populations in the Greater Philadelphia business community to drive business and create economic opportunity for regional businesses and residents.

The Chamber is now accepting applications from disability-, LGBTQ-, minority-, veteran-, and women-owned small business leaders to participate in this year's cohort. Deadline: Friday, October 16, 2020 | 11:59 p.m. EST

Wednesday, September 9th 3:00-4:00 p.m. On Wednesday, September 9th at 3:00 PM, business owners throughout Bucks County are invited to a Zoom webinar to learn about the next round of Bucks Back to Work Small Business Grant in response to COVID-19. Business owners or their representatives are encouraged to email bucksbacktowork@buckscounty.org in advance of and during the webinar for any questions they have for the featured speakers. When submitting your question, please provide your name, the name of your business, and what municipality in Bucks your business is in. To RSVP for the webinar, please register on Eventbrite by 1:00 PM on Wednesday, September 9th. Zoom sign-in details will be provided to all businesses an hour before the event b...

SECOND ROUND APPLICATION WINDOW OPENS AUGUST 10TH The PA CDFI Network has announced that the second grant application window will open at 9:00 AM on August 10th and will remain open for 15 business days closing at 11:59 PM on August 28th. WHAT IF I ALREADY APPLIED? If you applied during the first application window you should receive notification of your application status by August 10th. You do NOT need to reapply in the second round. Qualified applications will be automatically rolled over into the next funding round for consideration.   I HAVE NOT APPLIED YET. DO I EVEN QUALIFY? If you haven't yet applied, get your applications in Round 2! In order to get funds to businesses in need as quickly as possible, the second appli...

If you are a current manufacturer of supplies and products or can pivot your existing manufacturing capabilities to meet the necessary demand, the Pennsylvania DCED would like to hear from you. The PA Manufacturing Call to Action Portal will: Match manufacturers and distributors to fill specific supply chain needs to meet increasing demands for medical supplies and related products.Assist manufacturers that have workforce needs or gaps and aid them in identifying skilled workers.Identify manufacturers that can pivot or innovate to fulfill the demand for medical supplies and related products. Your response will help to facilitate the connections you need to overcome the challenges you are facing to help provide the critical supplies to ...

Governor Wolf announced the availability of $50M in grant funding through the COVID-19 PA Hazard Pay Grant Program. This program was established to help employers provide hazard pay to employees in life-sustaining occupations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This reimbursement-based grant is available to employers offering hazard pay during the eligible program period and will be administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). Applicants eligible to apply for grants are businesses, healthcare non-profits, public transportation agencies. Please apply through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's website; guidelines, application and F&Q are found here, COVID-19 PA Hazard Pay Grant Program. Do not submit...

These rates are in effect for loan applications received through September 30, 2020. For Real estate loans financing eligible land and building costs, borrowers will have the following interest rate options: For term loans with a regular amortization; Fixed interest rate for the full term of the loan (up to a 15-yr. period), set at the current 10-year treasury yield + 100 basis points. Based on the current 10-year treasury yield, the fixed rate option is 1.75% for the life of the loan.Fixed interest rate for a seven (7) year period set at the 10-year treasury yield. After seven years, the rate will reset to the then-current 10-year treasury yield. Please note, the reset rate is limited to a 200 basis point increase/decrease. The reset rate ...

The COVID-19 Relief Statewide Small Business Assistance Program is now open. Pennsylvania small businesses with 25 or fewer full-time employees, have annual revenues of $1 million or less, and were economically impacted by COVID-19 are encouraged to apply for relief. Grant awards will range from $5,000 to $50,000. It is not a first-come, first-served program. There will be multiple rounds of application windows, and applications will be prioritized and selected for funding based on the program criteria. The first application window will open on June 30th and will remain open for ten business days. All eligible businesses must apply through a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in the county that their business is located. BCE...

COVID-19 Relief Pennsylvania Statewide Small Business Assistance - Fact Sheet The COVID-19 Relief Pennsylvania Statewide Small Business Assistance program will provide grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to small businesses that have been economically impacted by COVID-19. This is not a first-come, first-served program. There will be multiple rounds of application windows. The Pennsylvania CDFI Network is a coalition of 17 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that will support small businesses throughout the Commonwealth to access the grant funds. For more information, links to participating CDFIs, and a sign-up to receive information, please visit: www.pabusinessgrants.com. Application window for the first round of f...

The Sellersville site covers 31.5 acres of land with over 221,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Image courtesy of Piramal Pharma Solutions.

Piramal Enterprises Limited's (PEL) Pharma Solutions business, a contract development and manufacturing organization, has entered into an agreement with G&W Laboratories Inc. to acquire its solid oral dosage drug product manufacturing facility located in Sellersville, PA. According to the terms of the agreement, PEL, through one of its affiliates, would acquire at closing a 100% stake in the entity that operates the facility and owns the related real estate. This acquisition broadens the offering of Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS) by adding solid oral dosage form capabilities (tablets and capsules) in North America. Until now, PPS' capabilities in solid oral dosage forms were all located in the UK and India. The Selle...

At this time, program details are still in development. The PA CDFI Network is currently working with the PA Department of Economic and Community Development in support of program implementation. State and federally backed small business grants that do not need to be repaid will become available through select financial institutions before the end of June. The goal is for the application process and portal to be open by July 1st for a set period of time-not first come, first served. Businesses can visit the central informational website www.pabusinessgrants.com through which businesses can learn more about the program and the CDFIs deploying the grants. Applications are not being accepted at this time. Businesses will be eligible to apply w...

Spectacular news out of Washington last night: SBA reopened the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance program portal to all eligible applicants experiencing economic impacts due to COVID-19 today. "With the reopening of the EIDL assistance and EIDL Advance application portal to all new applicants, additional small businesses and non-profits will be able to receive these long-term, low interest loans and emergency grants – reducing the economic impacts for their businesses, employees and communities they support," said SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza. Remember, the SBA EIDL Loan and EIDL Advance is a separate program from today's Paycheck Protection Program. More flexible Use of Proceeds, longer repayment terms, and differe...

As our region and our state is currently moving back to a new normal, business leaders are faced with a new set of challenges and a broad spectrum of unknowns. What has become painfully obvious is that many pre-COVID-19 strategies do not apply now, predictions on future events are hopelessly flawed, and there is little expertise on how to proceed. Even our legal and medical systems have overturned past precedents and are implementing new remedies and generating corrections from user feedback. Taking a best guess, using collective wisdom, and learning from failures has become the new norm for COVID-19 crisis management.May Survey SummaryThe Manufacturing Alliance of Bucks & Montgomery Counties and the statewide SEWN organi...

Approximately $225 million from a statewide grant program will be used to support small businesses that were impacted by the COVID-19 public health crisis and subsequent business closure order. "As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and shift our focus toward reopening our commonwealth, we need to help all Pennsylvanians recover. We need to provide assistance for those who were hurt by the pandemic and the resulting economic downturn," Gov. Tom Wolf said. "This new program will provide direct support to impacted businesses to cover operating expenses during the shutdown and the transition to reopening." The funding was developed in partnership with state lawmakers and allocated through the recently enacted state budget, whic...

In a unanimous voice vote, the Senate on Wednesday approved the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act, a bill designed to loosen the restrictions for PPP loan forgiveness. The Act was initially passed by the House of Representatives on May 28, 2020 with a vote of 471-1. The Senate did not make any changes to the version that was passed in the House. The bill now moves to President Trump to be signed into law. Key provisions of the Act include: An increase in the amount of time PPP recipients have to spend the proceeds (i.e., the covered period) from 8 weeks to 24 weeks. Borrowers can also opt to keep the original 8 week period. A decrease of the percentage recipients must spend on payroll-related costs to qualify for loan forgiveness from 75 ...

On Thursday, May 28, the House of Representatives nearly unanimously approved the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act, a bill designed to loosen the restrictions for PPP loan forgiveness. Key provisions of the Act include: An increase in the amount of time PPP recipients have to spend the proceeds (i.e., the covered period) from 8 weeks to 24 weeks A decrease of the percentage recipients must spend on payroll-related costs to qualify for loan forgiveness from 75 percent to 60 percent An extension of the deadline to rehire workers from June 30, 2020 to December 31, 2020 An extension of the minimum term period for the loans from two years to five yearsThe ability for companies whose loans are forgiven to delay the payment of payroll taxes The...

Reinvestment Fund is inviting applications for financial and technical assistance through the 2020 round of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Targeted Small Grants Program. Funding for the HFFI Targeted Small Grants Program is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), authorized by the Farm Bill. Reinvestment Fund serves as the national fund manager for the HFFI program at USDA. The 2020 HFFI round significantly increases the available funding compared to the previous round, offering $3 million in grant funds for food retail and food enterprises working to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize low-income communities. "A resilient food sys...

This is for information purposes only, BCEDC is not affiliated with the program. The County has put together a $6 million fund from relief money received from the federal government. With it, the county will be awarding $25,000 grants to businesses that apply and are approved. The application is located here: http://www.buckscounty.org/government/CommunityServices/BacktoWorkGrantProgam Please note that the County is only accepting application May 26, 5 am-9 pm.

The IRS sent out a reminder (IR-2020-89) yesterday for employers affected by COVID-19 about three new credits available to them.  Employee Retention Credit:  The employee retention credit is designed to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll. The refundable tax credit is 50% of up to $10,000 in wages paid by an eligible employer whose business has been financially impacted by COVID-19. The credit is available to all employers regardless of size, including tax-exempt organizations. There are only two exceptions: State and local governments and their instrumentalities and small businesses who take small business loans. Qualifying employers must fall into one of two categories: The employer's business is fully or par...

​WEDNESDAY, MAY 13TH | 11:00 AM (ET) As state and local stay-at-home orders for COVID-19 begin to ease, your organization most likely has an internal cross-functional team currently working on creating your phased return-to-work game plan. The HR component of this plan needs to mitigate a myriad of risks tied to the employer's responsibilities and responses to employees' rights, needs, requests, and even demands. I want to invite you to the upcoming webinar we're hosting with the attorneys at Fox Rothschild on May 13th at 11:00 a.m., Addressing the Legal Complexities of Workforce Re-Entry. This 60-minute webinar is designed to help leaders across an organization understand their role in mitigating their company's risks as: Back-to-work deci...