Dozens of Greater Lehigh Valley businesses and service agencies with employees on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, received part of $50 million in state grants to provide those workers with hazard pay.

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority announced today that it will award nearly $1.5 million in grants to each of the four Ben Franklin Technology Partners in the state.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania unveiled a three-pronged plan for a $1 million allocation it received from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Several senators led by Sen. David J. Arnold Jr., (R-Lebanon) are seeking relief for construction firms throughout the state who have largely shuttered their companies and most projects after Gov. Wolf’s business closure order on March 19.

Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is seeking modification and clarification of Gov. Tom Wolf’s order closing all “non-life sustaining businesses" in the state.

Monroe County manufacturer Vigon International will benefit from state funding will help it extend natural gas service for a multi-million dollar project that will create an additional 75 jobs.

More than $5 million in state funding will go to dozens of community revitalization projects across Pennsylvania to upgrade business facades, build accessible housing and make infrastructure improvements, the Wolf administration announced.

More than $5 million to help provide technical assistance to manufacturers with changes to markets, new technologies and competition, was awarded Thursday to Pennsylvania’s Industrial Resource Centers (IRC), according to officials.