Online training scheduled twice daily the week of April 6

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) West Virginia District Office and the West Virginia Small Business Development Center (WV SBDC) announce today that they have scheduled additional webinars to inform West Virginia’s small business owners about SBA disaster relief funding programs and to provide new information on the Paycheck Protection Program for businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19.

To accommodate the high volume of questions, the SBA and WV SBDC will hold the training sessions at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day from Tuesday, April 7 to Friday, April 10.

Thousands of West Virginia small businesses have attended the electronic trainings since the sessions began on March 23. The trainings cover SBA disaster relief programs, specifically the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance, and Paycheck Protection Program. The sessions also include an interactive question and answer session and encourage West Virginia small business owners to reach out to their local WV SBDC business coaches for assistance with confidential, one-on-one assistance in applying for financing, survival strategy, financial management, and marketing your business. The training is free, and no registration is required.

To access the training, visit https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/wv/clarksburg/resources/west-virginia-small-business-training-opportunities.

The SBA and SBDC urge small business to attend the training before calling the offices.

WV SBDC coaches can help facilitate connections to other resources to help your business and employees. The WV SBDC does not provide grants or funding of any kind but can help you identify funding opportunities. The WV SBDC cannot evaluate your funding request or decide the amount of funding you will receive. To receive assistance from your local business coach, please visit wvsbdc.com. For specific questions regarding your SBA funding application, please contact the SBA at 1-800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

At the direction of Gov. Jim Justice, the West Virginia Dept. of Commerce is working hard to ensure all West Virginia businesses, small and large, understand the new federal relief package, and are able to obtain the relief they need. Additional information on COVID-19 business resources can be found on the WV SBDC website https://wvsbdc.com/covid19. The site provides links to available programs including the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program, links to the SBA Coronavirus Pandemic Disaster Loans Comparison Guide, and other resources.

The West Virginia Development Office COVID-19 resource site also presents information on business issues of finance, labor, insurance, tax and other business topics.