Stay Positive, Stay Strong and Stay Connected with the GMSVCC
**GMSVCC's May Calendar**
members-only events and meetings:
Thursday, May 6, 12:00-1:00 PM Lunch 'n Leads via Zoom
Wednesday, May 19, 5:30-6:30 PM Business After Hours via Zoom
Hosted by The Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley
Thursday, May 20, 4:00 PM Ribbon Cutting at Mola Foods, 9 Simon Street, Nashua, NH 03060 Join us to see what exotic and delicious foods they offer.
Register Now!
** Our Jockeys & Juleps Kentucky Derby Party was a huge success! Thank you to all who participated, viewed, & donated! We greatly appreciate all!
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News You Can Use
RIGHT NOW!
Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF)
Information about the Application Portal.
Registration for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) will begin Friday, April 30 at 9 a.m. EDT and SBA will begin accepting applications via the application portal on Monday, May 3 at 12 p.m. EDT. The application portal will remain open to any eligible establishment until all funds are exhausted.
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New Hampshire to resume search for work rule for unemployed; vaccinations rising
Staff report
CONCORD — New Hampshire residents collecting unemployment benefits will again be required to prove they are looking for work starting May 23.
Gov. Chris Sununu announced the return to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic policy, which had been waived in 2020 so people could be safe, he said.
Sununu noted New Hampshire now has a 3% unemployment rate, calling it "one of the lowest in the country." He said there are "tens of thousands of high-paying jobs available today" in the state. Anecdotally, he said, a recent job fair at the Seacoast United indoor sports facility had about 100 employers with 3,000 jobs available and only 104 people took part.
New Hampshire Works job centers will be opening to the public by May 10 to assist people. Job fairs are scheduled May 6 for veterans, May 11 for students, graduates and individuals using adult education programs, and May 13 for people in the construction industry.
COVID-19 vaccine update
Health officials reported New Hampshire has administered 984,000 doses and 387,000 people have been fully vaccinated (28% of the state's population).
Officials said 56% of the state's age-eligible residents (16 and up) have received at least one dose.
Sununu was asked about vaccine hesitancy among some residents in more rural areas of the state in particular.
"There's a general sense there are still some folks who might wait until summer or they feel more comfortable," he said. Sununu noted some people may prefer to get shots at their primary care physician's offices rather than state-run sites. He said the state will transition to vaccines being offered in healthcare settings in the coming weeks.
Officials emphasized there are thousands of open appointments each week at sites in the state at vaccines.nh.gov and by calling 211. People can easily change appointments they have to sooner dates, Sununu and health officials said.
COVID-19 numbers in New Hampshire
State health officials reported one death and 515 new cases of the coronavirus, giving the state 3,233 active cases and a total of 92,910. About 100 of the new cases are in a federal prison in Berlin. The state's death toll moved to 1,274.
Dr. Ben Chan, state epidemiologist, said the state is averaging about 350 new cases a day in the past week, and the positivity rate is about 4.5% in that time, both representing declines.
There were 112 people hospitalized in the state as of Thursday.
Beth Daly, chief of the state Bureau of Infectious Disease, reported there have been 24 "breakthrough" cases in the state where people who were fully vaccinated tested positive for COVID-19. She said two of those 24 have died, both residents in long-term care facilities.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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The IRS has released additional details for the Paid Leave Tax Credits made available under the American Rescue Plan. Eligible employers with 500 or fewer employees can receive tax credits for providing paid time off for each employee receiving the vaccine and for time need to recover from the vaccine. More information can be found here.
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Hot off the presses
– Job Fairs -
*Note* Many of these are not posted on the website yet, so stay tuned and keep checking the website for the latest update.
May 6th Veteran Virtual Job Fair in partnership with NH DMAVS
May 11th Student virtual job fair in partnership with Pinkerton Academy
May 11th Student and Adult Ed virtual job fair in partnership with Pinkerton Academy
May 13th Construction industry virtual job fair in partnership with ABC NH/VT
May 25th Lakes Region
May 26th Monadnock Region
May 27th Capitol & Southern Region
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Universal Mask Up! Signage
The NH Commerce Corridor has created universal Mask Up! signage businesses can download, print, and use to inform and encourage customers to wear masks.
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As President Joe Biden signed the PPP Extension Act of 2021 into law today, extending the Paycheck Protection Program an additional two months to May 31, 2021, and then providing an additional 30-day period for the SBA to process applications that are still pending, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said:
“Today, President Biden sent another strong message to America’s more than 30 million small business owners negatively impacted by the pandemic: help is here. By signing the PPP Extension Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act into law, the President is providing additional critical relief to the smallest of the small businesses – the mom-and-pop shops that line our Main Streets and keep our local and regional economies going.
“The leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, working with leaders of the House Small Business Committee, Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez, and Ranking Member Blaine Luetkemeyer, Reps. Carolyn Bourdeaux and Young Kim, and Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, and Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Susan Collins, ensured a strong bipartisan vote to extend this critical relief to hard-hit small businesses. More than 8.2 million PPP loans have provided struggling small businesses with the relief they need to keep workers employed and make ends meets during this pandemic. The SBA remains dedicated to reaching the heart and soul of the nation’s urban, rural, and low-income communities – the smallest businesses – and removing barriers to access this vital relief.
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******NH's COVID vaccine info page is here. ****
REGISTER NOW
