Gov. Wolf announces new loan program for small Pa. businesses

Loans of up to $100,000 will be available to for-profit businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees through a new state program intended to help businesses during the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday.

The financial assistance, a total of $60 million called the Covid-19 Working Capital Access Program (CWCA), is expected to be available this week under the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority Small Business First Fund, Wolf said.

“My top priority is to save Pennsylvania lives, then save their livelihoods,” Wolf said during a news conference. “I am utilizing every resource available to assist Pennsylvania’s business during this incredibly difficult time, and this small-business funding availability is a step in the right direction. It will help provide a little peace of mind to hundreds of small-business owners and their employees.”

Retail, service enterprises and agricultural producers are among those for-profit businesses included in the program, he said.

Today I’m announcing two more efforts to help us combat the #COVID19 crisis.

First, I know this is a challenging time for small businesses. A new source of funding will help businesses with fewer than 100 full-time employees. pic.twitter.com/xkbRSOBbNe

— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) March 25, 2020

Eligible costs include working capital, which was defined as capital used for operations, excluding fixed assets and production equipment.

More details on how to apply for a loan are available at the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) website. Businesses seeking guidance from the department should email ra-dcedcs@pa.gov.

Wolf ordered “non-life-sustaining” businesses across Pennsylvania to stop physical operations Thursday.

Stay-at-home orders, which further encouraged residents to remain at home and to avoid contact with others, went into effect for several counties this week, including Allegheny County.

Since then, businesses across the state have been working to pivot operations to online models. Many restaurants and other food service venues have scrambled to transition to carry-out and delivery only. Many others were forced to lay off employees or shut down.

By the close of business Monday, DCED received 15,092 requests from Pennsylvania businesses for exemptions from the order.

Of that number, 2,486 exemptions were granted, 2,135 were denied and 1,279 were deemed unnecessary, according to figures provided by the department.

The number of covid-19 cases in Pennsylvania cleared 1,000 Wednesday.

So far, 11 people, including two in Allegheny County, have died from complications related to covid-19.

“I will continue to develop ways to assist Pennsylvania’s business community, as well as our workforce,” Wolf said. “I also need every Pennsylvanian to step up and do their part. The best way we can preserve our economic future is by minimizing the spread of covid-19.”