Eight things you need to know about the impact of COVID-19 on Saratoga County's economy.

1. SBA Re-Opening Paycheck Protection Program to All Lenders on Tuesday, January 19

The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the U.S. Treasury Department, will fully open the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan portal on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 to all participating PPP lenders for First and Second Draw loan applications to SBA.

First Draw PPP Loans are for those borrowers who have not received a PPP loan before August 8, 2020.

Second Draw PPP Loans are for eligible small businesses with 300 employees or less, that previously received a First Draw PPP Loan and will use or have used the full amount only for authorized uses, and that can demonstrate at least a 25% reduction in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020. The maximum amount of a Second Draw PPP loan is $2 million. 

If you haven't applied for forgiveness yet--and in some cases, even if you have--here are some updated guidelines to note and Six Changes That Make PPP Forgiveness Easier.

2. Food Service Industry Gets a Boost with Federal, State, and Local Resources

Congress has made $284 billion available through the revamped PPP, specifically targeting the hospitality industry for extra help. Hospitality establishments that meet the PPP guidelines can apply for a second-draw forgivable loan calculated at 3.5 times their monthly payroll, up to $2 million. Click here for a rundown of Everything Restaurants Need to Know About the $284 Billion PPP Program.

3. Carmakers Crying Out for Chips Fuels Growth for Globalfoundries

Last week, Bloomberg reported that the worldwide bottleneck in semiconductors, that’s disrupting production of automakers is turning into a growth opportunity for Globalfoundries. General Motors is also sounding the alarm over an ongoing semiconductor chip shortage that may force it to limit its production output in the future. Today’s vehicles use an abundance of semiconductor chips for their various electronic systems, including powertrain control systems, advanced safety systems and in-car entertainment, among more. Automakers must compete with companies in the consumer electronics sector for the limited global supply of semiconductors, however, which may cut into their ability to maintain regular production output of certain vehicles. Global is running its factories at an unprecedented clip and prioritizing chips for cars to satisfy demand, said Mike Hogan, who heads the firm’s automotive business unit. Globalfoundries expects revenue from the sector to more than double this year.

Though the United States once led development of the world’s internet, we now pay more than the rest of the developed world on average. As many as one in three US households don't have broadband internet access, currently defined as just 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up — which feels like the bare minimum for a remote learning family these days. Even before the pandemic, that statistic might have been shocking; now, it’s the difference between whether millions of schoolchildren can attend classes and do their homework or not. Nearly 12 million children don’t have a broadband connection at home, the Senate Joint Economic Committee reported in 2017. And the “homework gap” hits harder if you’re poor, of course: only 56 percent of households with incomes under $30,000 had broadband as of last February, according to the Pew Research Center. Click here to this piece from The Verge on why America needs to fix the internet in 2021.

The New York Forward Loan Fund (NYFLF) is a new economic recovery loan program aimed at supporting New York State small businesses, nonprofits and small residential landlords as they reopen after the COVID-19 outbreak and NYS on PAUSE. The NYFLF now targets the state’s small businesses with *50* or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, nonprofits and small residential landlords that have seen a loss of rental income. 

Since 2000, the value of intermediate goods traded globally has tripled to more than $10 trillion annually. Businesses that successfully implemented a lean, global model of manufacturing achieved improvements in indicators such as inventory levels, on-time-in-full deliveries, and shorter lead times. However, these operating model choices sometimes led to unintended consequences if they were not calibrated to risk exposure. Intricate production networks were designed for efficiency, cost, and proximity to markets but not necessarily for transparency or resilience. Now they are operating in a world where disruptions are regular occurrences. Averaging across industries, companies can now expect supply chain disruptions lasting a month or longer to occur every 3.7 years, and the most severe events take a major financial toll. Click here to read McKinsey Global Institute's Report on Risk, resilience, and rebalancing in global value chains

In today's rapidly changing world, ongoing education has become essential to business survival, and career success and survival in virtually every field. SUNY ADK and Albany Can Code recently teamed up to deliver their newest offering JavaScript Frameworks, which runs February 1 to April 28. The class, which will be offered virtually Mondays & Wednesdays,5:45 to 8:45pm , is an intermediate class suitable for students who have a strong foundation in JavaScript. It begins by solidifying student skills in functional programming, higher-order functions, callbacks, currying, recursions and promises. JSX and Virtual DOM are covered and practiced, then the curriculum dives into components in React.js and other popular frameworks. Scholarships are available for any Saratoga, Warren, and Washington resident at one of the Albany CanCode courses. For a complete Winter/Spring Continuing Education Courses now available through SUNY ADK, click here. 

8. Pandemic has accelerated changes in Capital Region Commercial Real Estate Market

As the coronavirus pandemic rages in upstate New York amid hopes that much of the population will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 within a few months, The Times Union Reports that the commercial real estate market is going through a reckoning. When it comes to commercial real estate, the idea of opening up the sector to new possibilities is what is moving the industry these days. While residential commercial real estate has remained stronger than most sectors, the commercial office space market is in flux because so many employers are requiring their employees to work from home, and those who are working in offices need to spaced further away from their colleagues in less densely populated settings. Click here to read more.

As more parents are returning to work compared to the onset of the pandemic months ago, a study released in October by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce shows childcare remains a barrier for parents who want to return to work. The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, Saratoga County Employment & Training, Warren County Employment & Training, Brightside Up, and the Southern Adirondack Child Care Network are conducting two separate surveys to assess the marketplace for future child care needs. Any data collected will be aggregated and your individual responses will remain confidential.