Lisa Falzone
Lisa Falzone, CEO of Athena Security, featured in Times of E’s story about gun sales during the pandemic

The Times of Entrepreneurship: Weekly Alert

Good morning, Times of E readers.

Here are the week’s key headlines, plus a Small Business Resource Guide of grants and loans

Subscribe to Times of E’s weekly briefs or tell us about your company: www.timesofe.com/introduction.

Gun Sales Surge Again, But Something Will Be Different This Time: Video Surveillance

There’s a peculiarly American side effect of the pandemic: Gun sales are surging nearly 20%. Entrepreneurs with gun alarm companies are ready.

We’re Entering The Stay-Home Economy: Here Are 10 Industries That Will Be Winners

Behavioral shifts are creating rapid change in our economy—and new opportunities for those who are nimble. 

Air Purifiers See A Surge in Sales

Scientists say they work against viruses, too. Will the COVID-19 pandemic be a turning point on raising awareness of indoor air quality? 

Could We Test For Coronavirus In Sewer Systems, Tracking The Spread?

MIT entrepreneurs have a solution that could work….

Legislatures And Regulators Lift Restrictions On Telehealth

Coronavirus is opening the door to telehealth services. Massachusetts passed a parity law, requiring insurers to cover telehealth. The DEA made it easier to prescribe controlled substances remotely. Law firm Foley & Lardner is tracking the changes.

Small Business Resource Guide

J.P. Morgan Just Pledged $50 Million In Aid To Small Businesses And Nonprofits As the Coronavirus Sends The Economy Into a Nosedive

With fears of a recession growing, the bank is offering a package of aid, including $8 million for small businesses vulnerable to significant hardships in the U.S., China and Europe. Another $35 million will be distributed to nonprofits and small businesses.

Help Emerging For Philly-Area Companies Facing Financial Disaster From Coronavirus Shutdowns

The City of Philadelphia partners with the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation to offer small businesses with less than $5 million in revenue grants and zero-interest loans.

Canadian Banks Offering Mortgage And Small Business Relief

Six big banks –the Bank of Montreal, CIBC, RBC, Scotia Bank, TD and the National Bank—pledge immediate aid to small businesses suffering business interruption from the coronavirus. 

Here’s What the UK Is Doing

Britons will soon have access to the temporary “Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.” 

Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan

Justin Trudeau just announced a comprehensive program to help both businesses and workers, including a 10% wage subsidy for the next 90 days to small businesses. 

Facebook Grants Program

Facebook is offering $100 million in cash grants and ad credits to support up to 30,000 small businesses in more than 30 countries. 

Gift Certificates to Support Entrepreneurs

Kabbage payments is enabling any business to sign up to sell gift certificates online. Gift certificates are essentially a form of customer financing, where customers pay you in advance for your services. 

OpenTable has a gift card marketplace

Louisiana Economic Development

This page publishes a list of business assistance resources for firms in the state affected by the coronavirus. Look for other states to increase their help, especially as the SBA designates more areas where businesses are eligible for loans. 

The List

The Freelancers Union has put together this list of resources for freelancers who’ve lost business due to COVID-19. 

[Know of any resources that will help other small business owners? Please submit them to Elaine Pofeldt at @epofeldt@yahoo.com]

Upcoming Events/Registration Deadlines

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[Sponsored]

Win $100,000 to grow your startup.

Are you an early-stage, high-growth startup with a scalable business model? If so, Render Competition wants to support your innovation. 

Apply today for a chance to be one of the winning startups who receive $100,000, a free coworking membership, pro bono services and much more. Winners must relocate to Greater Louisville, KY, for at least one year (and will receive lots of relocation support in doing so).

Application deadline: May 1st, 2020

Learn more here: www.render.capital/competition

Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program

Location: Africa

Application deadline: March 31, 2020

Open to entrepreneurs across Africa, this program focuses on entrepreneurs with startup ideas or existing businesses less than three years old, offering a holistic program of intensive support. 

Young Entrepreneur Convention

Location: Ames, Ohio

April 4, 2020

The theme is “founders helping founders” at this one-day event, aimed at business owners in their teens and twenties, at Iowa State University.

TechStars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator

Location: Birmingham, Ala.

Application deadline: April 5, 2020

This 13-week program in Birmingham, Ala., provides mentoring to startups creating innovative electrical and utility solutions. 

MIT Solve Pandemics & Health Challenges

Location: Cambridge, Mass.

Deadline: June 2018

MIT Solve, a marketplace for social innovation, has launched a health security and pandemics challenge in response to coronavirus. It is looking for teams around the world working on innovations to address pandemics and plans to give winners access to $1.5 million in funding. 

Private Financing Advisory Network

The network is soliciting applications from businesses that deliver climate change adaptation or clean energy innovation to their communities. 

Deadline: Rolling

– Compiled by Elaine Pofeldt

This story and others on New Builders Dispatch are made possible by a sponsorship from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that provides access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity – regardless of race, gender, or geography. The Kansas City, Mo.-based foundation uses its grantmaking, research, programs, and initiatives to support the start and growth of new businesses, a more prepared workforce, and stronger communities. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect with www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.