For the 2nd straight week, unemployment claims fell to 65,159.

That’s down 7,957 claims from the previous week, according to state officials.

Lexington County reported 2,872 claims and Richland County 4,137.

For the week ending April 18, 73,116 claims were filed, a decrease of 14,570 from the week before.

In the last 6 weeks, 406,889 initial claims ha been filed.

The agency has paid more than $585 million in combination of state benefits and federal covid-19 unemployment relief programs.

Chambers to help small biz

Local chambers of commerce are responding to the recent havoc thrust upon small businesses by the covid-19 pandemic.

The Greater Chapin Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Irmo Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Cayce-West Columbia Chamber of Commerce are partnering on a task force called the Partnership for Small Business Recovery.

Its mission is to ensure that the small business economy in smaller Midlands communities not only survive and thrive through covid-19.

The partnership was created to address economic issues specific to the small businesses in the Chapin, Ballentine, Irmo, Cayce, West Columbia and Springdale communities.

One goal is to fund and distribute small grants to local small businesses.

Take the PSBR surveys and learn more at www.screcovers.org .

23.6 million jobs lost to crisis

Corona virus has wiped out all the job gains since the Great Recession in 2010.

Some 22.7 million jobs had been created since February 2010. The most recent Bureau of Labor data shows 23.6 million jobs have been lost since Mar. 16.

That compares to 8.8 million jobs lost during the Great Recession.

South Carolina is the 12th-worse impacted by unemployment in the country, WalletHub found. There has been a 3541.21% increase in unemployment claims here since the start of the covid-19 crisis.

The personal finance website look at unemployment claims for data from the week of April 20.

It found Georgia, New Hampshire and Louisiana have been hardest hit by unemployment.

2 appointed to election commission

Governor Henry McMaster announced 2 new appointments to the State Election Commission. The appointments fill 2 vacant seats on the 5 member commission.

Linda McCall will fill seat 3, previously occupied by Harold Faust, who passed away earlier this year. McCall, 63, is retired and most recently worked in the office of Congressman Mick Mulvaney from 2011-2017.

JoAnne Day will fill seat 1, previously occupied Amanda Loveday, who resigned late last year. Day, 74, is retired and most recently worked for the IBM Corporation as a managing consultant from 1998 to 2009.

Cargo shipments up at CAE

Commercial air travel world-wide has significantly declined, but not in Lexington County.

Columbia Metropolitan Airport’s cargo shipments have seen a steady uptick thanks in part to Nephron Pharmaceuticals and UPS.

West Columbia-based Nephron Pharmaceuticals added hand sanitizer, drugs for respiratory inhalation therapy and nebulizers to their existing production portfolio. Last month, Nephron shipped over 25,000 pieces out of CAE to hundreds of hospitals across the nation.

Nephron will launch a new product in September and is slated for 200,000 monthly shipments out of CAE.

UPS has increased the number of company-owned and chartered air freighter flights by more than 185 in response to customer orders.

The company is flexing capacity to meet soaring customer demand to ship test kits, personal protective equipment and other supplies necessary to the global corona virus response effort.

Lexington considers loan program

The Town of Lexington is asking businesses located within town limits if they are interested in a loan program to provide covid-19 help.

The Town is currently exploring options and would like feedback to best help serve in-town businesses.

Fill out the Business Loan Interest Survey at http://www.lexsc.com/FormCenter/ Emergency-Business-Loan-Survey-11/Townof-Lexington-Emergency-Business-Loa-64.

Town Council has provided immediate assistance through 2 emergency ordinances which provide in part for the suspension of water and sewer cut-offs, and waiving of penalties for late payment of water and sewer bills, hospitality taxes, and business licenses through June 30.

Free home cleaning for cancer patients

A local business is giving back by providing free home cleaning services to those undergoing cancer treatment.

Deserved Comfort House Cleaning has been donating cleaning services to local cancer patients for 6 years through their partnership with nonprofit Cleaning for a Reason.

Owner and cancer survivor Marlo McKelvey Kanipe says her staff are trained to properly clean, sanitize and disinfect, and are equipped with masks and gloves.

Through partnership with Cleaning for a Reason, Deserved Comfort House Cleaning provides services for 2 cancer patients’ homes each month for 2 consecutive months free of charge.

This is an ongoing service to cancer patients residing in Columbia, parts of Lexington, and Irmo.

Bank feels covid impact

First Community bank released its 1stquarter earnings.

They reported net income of $1.8 million compared to $2.5 million this time last year.

Diluted earnings per common share were $0.24 compared to $0.36 this time last year.

AROUND TOWN

LINDA: 467-0334 ChuCk: 348-0243

lexingtonchronicle@gmail.com