Small business gap funding. Northern Virginia technology entrepreneur Pete Snyder and his wife have donated $100,000 in “seed money” to create the nonprofit Virginia 30 Day Fund to help businesses meet payroll until federal relief comes through. The fund, reports the Washington Post, will provide up to $3,000 to each approved small business. recipients do not have to repay the money. Snyder, who is considering a run as a Republican for governor, said the fund has no connection to his political plans. “This is a time for us to be helping each other,” he said. “There are other days for politics, but today is not one.”
Sequencing COVID-19’s DNA
. The state Division of Laboratory Services is one of three public health labs in the country to begin unraveling the genetic code of COVID-19, reports the Virginia Mercury. Said lab Director Denise Toney Monday: “We want to determine what are the similarities and what are the differences between what Virginia has and what they’re seeing in European countries, for example, versus southeast Asia versus Washington state.” Comparing viral sequences can help experts determine which mutations are responsible for outbreaks and which seem to respond to containment measures.
From shirts to masks. Ledbury, a Richmond manufacturer of dressy menswear, and Shockoe Atelier, a maker of denim jeans, have shifted their businesses to produce medical masks for VCU Health. Between the two of them, the small businesses cranked out about 1,030 masks Friday, reports Richmond BizSense. The masks, made of a polycotton blend used for scrubs, are tailored to VCU’s specifications. Said Ledbury co-owner Paul Trible: “If there’s a way to help, we have the manpower and the expertise to do it.”
Flights of mercy. Sixteen-year-old T.J. Kim doesn’t have a driver’s license, but he can fly, and he’s turned his flying lessons into missions of mercy, reports the Associated Press. Each week, he delivers protective gear to small hospitals around the state. In the most recent trip, he conveyed 3,000 gloves, 1,000 head covers, 500 shoe covers, 50 non-surgical masks, 20 pairs of protective eyewear and 10 concentrated bottles of hand sanitizer to Winchester to supply a hospital in nearby Woodstock. His father helps round up the supplies. Kim was especially touched by his reception in Luray. “They conveyed to me that they were really forgotten about. Everyone was wanting to send donations to big city hospitals. Every hospital is hurting for supplies, but it’s the rural hospitals that really feel forgotten.”
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