More than $247 billion of the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been approved for use by American businesses as of Tuesday evening, according to the latest figures from the Small Business Administration, the federal agency overseeing the rollout of stimulus funds.

Marilee Falco has been working in the financial services industry since 1995. She is a lifelong resident of the Lehigh Valley and a graduate of Muhlenberg College.  She is a principal and financial strategist at Agili, and has been with the firm since March of 2011. 

U.S. Congresswoman Susan Wild, D-7, said a number of Lehigh Valley colleges and universities have received funding under the CARES Act for COVID-19 relief.

Fidelity Bank Corp, the Dunmore-based parent holding company of Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank, announced the receipt of all required regulatory approvals for the proposed acquisition of Merchants Bank of Bangor on April 14.

Additional funds would ease the strain of capital and liquidity constraints on banks originating PPP loans, but midstate financial institutions said in interviews this week that guidelines for the additional funds and the PPP as a whole are still pending from the Fed and the Small Business Administration.

After an overwhelming response to an initial round of grants, a group of business leaders led by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of commerce this morning released a second pool of $150,000 in small business grants aimed at easing some of the financial burden of the COVID-19 shutdown.

Businesses that collect Pennsylvania sales taxes will not have to make accelerated sales tax prepayments in April, May and June due to income shortfalls from social distancing requirements, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday.

The Hospital Emergency Loan Program, an effort to provide short-term financial relief to hospitals, is expected to help ensure they have sufficient personnel, equipment and personal protective equipment.

In an effort to provide small businesses faced with the imminent prospect of bankruptcy due to COVID-19, lenders hurried to comply with incoming guidelines from the Small Business Administration that qualify them to make federally-guaranteed loans to small businesses, to the extent that 75% of those funds are used to keep workers on payroll and 25% on overhead costs.

The GIANT Co. of Carlisle has established a $250,000 emergency fund to help support small businesses in Pennsylvania’s food supply chain that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.