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The New Kent County Economic Development Authority has established a grant program for businesses that are physically located in the County to provide aid to address financial issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and state government ordered shutdown of non-essential businesses and modifications to all other businesses. Applications opened today, July 1, 2020, and grants will be awarded to qualified applicants by lottery at 9 a.m. on Friday, July 24, 2020 at the New Kent …

Partnership spurred $5.5 million in Tri-Cities development since 2017 PETERSBURG, VA (JUNE 22, 2020) – Three years after its successful initial investment, The Cameron Foundation has renewed a $1 million loan and deposit with Virginia Community Capital (VCC), a community development financial institution that makes impact investments throughout the Commonwealth. As the community begins to reopen from the COVID-19 closures, the funds will be deployed into the Tri-Cities and other areas in Cameron’s footprint, supporting …

Butchers can’t work from home. Especially when you’re on a 30-member team selling fresh, sustainable products to restaurants and college dining halls – with 90 percent of those closed due to the pandemic. Lynchburg-based Seven Hills Food Co. is using its Paycheck Protection Program loan to pivot to retail demand. “This loan allows us time to start a new business under the same roof and have a chance to pull through a period of great uncertainty,” says owner Ryan Ford. …

For Todd Curran and his Savage Apparel Co. team, March roared in like a lion: The company had, this year, finalized a merger with two Pacific rivals to form a new company, XII Brands. The firms specialize in custom apparel for sports like ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, quidditch and other nontraditional team sports. Savage quickly pivoted in the wake of the coronavirus to pushing its “neckies” on its website. It has sold thousands since March. That …

One business day after the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan process opened, Andrea Goulet, CEO of Corgibytes, LLC, received an impersonal e-mail from an online funding company that it was immediately shutting down her line of credit. After billing itself as a super easy lending option, the funder didn’t even acknowledge the impact that would have on Goulet’s business, which specializes in updating mission-critical business software. With a 20-person staff …

With the coronavirus (COVID-19) turning daily life and work upside down, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville e recognized its daily outreach was even more critical. Across the nonprofit, every department contributed to a new mission statement to guide it through this pandemic. Habitat serves 2,000 families; half of those have lost their job or part of their income. At the top of the list is to finish and hand the keys of 10 near-complete …

Habitat for Humanity Prince William County will use its PPP funding to rehire employees who were laid off when Gov. Northam’s Executive Order No. 55 — Stay-At-Home — went into effect in late March. Traci DeGroat, the organization’s President and CEO, said prior to the order, operations remained open. Habitat Prince William had implemented safety protocols and limited customers to less than ten at any given time in its home-improvement and donation-center locations, ReStore. “Once the order took effect, however, the drop in revenue was so precipitous …

While she seeks assistance herself, Dr. Shantelle Brown, owner-operator of Hope Pharmacy in Church Hill, is doing her part to help others in the community impacted by the pandemic. Last year, VCC helped get Dr. Brown’s business established with a Small Business Administration-backed loan to build out the pharmacy and purchase equipment and furniture. Our team also helped her acquire an additional SBA line of credit for working capital, payroll, and inventory. Due largely to …

ART 180, a Richmond nonprofit with a mission to give young people living in challenging circumstances a chance to express themselves through art, sought to diversify where it invested and saved donor dollars. VCC “rose to the top” of ART 180’s list of possibilities “because of their mission to invest in the community,” says Marlene Paul, the organization’s executive director. ART 180 is a Richmond nonprofit with a mission to give young people living in challenging …

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