The Chester County Commissioners and Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) will host a webinar on Thursday, May 7 at 10:00am about the Chester County Main Street Preservation Grant Program.

Chester County’s Commissioners set up a $5M fund to establish the Main Street Preservation grant program – up to $25,000 in funding for county’s small businesses and agriculture enterprises impacted by COVID-19. The competitive grant program will provide funding for small businesses and agricultural enterprises in the county that were unable to take advantage of any federal and commonwealth existing COVID-19 response programs. Grants of up to $25,000 will be available to eligible businesses through the Chester County Main Street Preservation program.

The webinar will cover the the structure of the program, eligibility requirements, and the application process. Questions may be submitted to mainstreet@ccedcpa.com.

Viewing Options:
Registration is not required. The webinar will be live streamed at the following locations:

• Chester County Website
• CCEDC Website
• Facebook Live

Application Checklist

Main Street Program Website

Application Form

Libraries offers many resources and services to help inventors answer many questions: What is the market for my idea? Will I need a patent? How do I promote my idea? The US Patent & Trademark Office provides sites devoted to serving the special needs of inventors. The Lemelson-MIT Invention Dimension site also provides a wealth of inventor resources including inventor profiles, patent guidelines, links to online invention resources, and more.

Library databases, like ReferenceUSA, can be helpful in locating businesses to license or manufacture your product, or to find out how large a market exists for your invention. ReferenceUSA provides detailed information on millions of U.S. companies, organizations, agencies, and households. Search its business module by company name, company executive name, sales volume, SIC/NAICS codes, number of employees, and more.

The library’s ebook collection includes many books about inventors and innovation that you can check out from home with a Chester County Library card.

Take advantage of the Cisco Networking Academy! Available for free through Chester County Library, these online, self-paced courses will help you explore potential career pathways, develop technical mastery, and build critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed to succeed.

Get Connected: Learn how to use a computer, connect devices and access search, email, and social media. This is a self-paced, beginner level course.

Entrepreneurship: This course teaches business and financial skills, attitudes, and behaviors to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset that can empower them to improve their lives.

Introduction to Cybersecurity: Learn how to protect yourself online and in social media while discovering careers in cybersecurity. This is a self-paced, beginner level course.

Cybersecurity Essentials: Develop an understanding of cybercrime, security principles, technologies, and procedures used to defend networks. This is a self-paced, intermediate level course.

Introduction to IoT (Internet of Things): Learn how the Internet of Things (IoT) and the digital transformation of business create new value and new job opportunities. This is a self-paced, beginner level course.

Introduction to Packet Tracer:  Learn the basics for using Cisco Packet Tracer to simulate network configurations. This is a self-paced, beginner level course.

Packet Tracer Mobile: Learn how to use the Cisco Packet Tracer Mobile software. This is a self-paced, hands-on course.

The Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center at West Chester University keeps a webpage current on COVID-19 information, upcoming business webinars, and other entrepreneurship resources, including:

• emergency loan information,
• guidance for employers,
• legal explanations,
• local organizations and support,
• and much, much more.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act created new temporary paid sick leave and paid Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) programs that are 100% reimbursable by the federal government. The effective date of both programs is April 1 and they expire on December 31, 2020.

For more information, click here.

PUA provides up to 39 weeks of benefits to qualifying individuals who are otherwise able to work and available for work within the meaning of applicable state law, except that they are unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable or unavailable to work due to COVID-19 related reasons, as defined in the CARES Act. Benefit payments under PUA are retroactive, for weeks of unemployment, partial employment, or inability to work due to COVID-19 reasons starting on or after January 27, 2020. The CARES Act specifies that PUA benefits cannot be paid for weeks of unemployment ending after December 31, 2020.

For more information and to file a regular unemployment claim, click here.

Codecademy is offering a free webinar on Interviewing from Home tomorrow, Friday, April 24 at 10:00 am. Register here.

With the current pandemic, most of the workforce across the globe are working from home. This brings a whole new set of challenges for organizations to mitigate, from productivity issues to information security, and business continuity is becoming the primary problem for many organizations.

Tesseract Learning wants to help in any way they can. They are releasing free eLearning modules to help you maintain employee wellbeing, productivity, and business continuity.

Find the courses here.