Tag Archives: Virginia

Big Stone Gap, Virginia, USA

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“Big Stone Gap” is a small town located in the southwestern region of Virginia, in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. It is the county seat of Wise County and has a population of approximately 5,200 people.

The town was founded in the late 1800s as a coal mining community, and it quickly became a major center of commerce and industry in the region. Today, Big Stone Gap is known for its rich cultural heritage and its beautiful natural surroundings.

One of the most notable features of Big Stone Gap is its charming downtown area, which is filled with historic buildings and quaint shops and restaurants. The town is also home to several parks and outdoor recreational areas, including the Greenbelt Trail, which offers scenic hiking and biking opportunities. Continue reading →

Reflections of Travel to the United States

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As a four-decade Certified Travel Agent, international airline employee, researcher, writer, teacher, and photographer, travel, whether for pleasure or business purposes, has always been a significant and an integral part of my life. Some 400 trips to every portion of the globe, by means of road, rail, sea, and air, entailed destinations both mundane and exotic. This article focuses on those in the United States.

New York:
Originally accessed by Floyd Bennett Field–New York’s first municipal airport–Manhattan, experienced from the water with island-circling boat cruises, was channeled through its museum, theater, and restaurant arteries, and from the heights of its Empire State Building and no-longer existence World Trade Center. It became the threshold to its Lower-, Mid-, and Upper-Hudson Valleys, which were characterized by Bear Mountain, West Point, the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, the vintage aircraft Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, dinners in the Culinary Institute of America, plays at the Rhinebeck Center for the Performing Arts, and visits to the Hudson River School of Painters venues. Continue reading →

Paycheck Protection Program

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Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a loan designed by the US Govt, and implemented by the SBA, to provide a direct and immediate incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll, and thus avoid large scale job losses, because the SMBs create over 50% of the total jobs across America.

SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks, and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities.

You can apply through any existing SBA 7(a) lender, or through any federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, and Farm Credit System institution that is participating. Other regulated lenders will be available to make these loans once they are approved and enrolled in the program.

Lenders may begin processing loan applications as soon as April 3, 2020.
The Paycheck Protection Program will be available through June 30, 2020.
Please check with your local lender whether it’s participating in the program.

Who Can Apply
The following entities affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19) may be eligible:

  • Any small business concern that meets SBA’s size standards (either the industry based sized standard or the alternative size standard)
  • Any business, 501(c)(3) Non-profit organization, 501(c)(19) Veterans organization, or Tribal business concern (sec. 31(b)(2)(C) of the Small Business Act) with the greater of: 500 employees, or that meets the SBA industry size standard if more than 500.
  • Any business with a NAICS Code that begins with 72 (Accommodations and Food Services) with more than one physical location, and employs less than 500 per location
  • Sole proprietors, Independent Contractors, and Self-employed persons.

Please see this page to learn more details. Thanks.
https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program-ppp