New funds available
for bars, restaurants
The Small Business Administration is rolling out a new loan program to support local restaurants reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund devotes $28.6 billion to neighborhood and community bars and restaurants to help them meet payroll, purchase supplies and transition to a new covid environment.
"With the launch of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, we're prioritizing funding to the hardest-hit small businesses -- irreplaceable gathering places in our neighborhoods and communities that need a lifeline now to get back on their feet," SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said in a news release.
Over the next two weeks, the SBA will establish a seven-day pilot period for the fund's application portal and conduct extensive outreach and training. The pilot period will be used to address technical issues ahead of the public launch.
Information is available at www.sba.gov/restaurants.
-- Andrew Moreau
Virus test kit added
to Walmart shelves
Walmart Inc. is now among the nation's retailers selling a covid-19 test kit for use at home.
The Bentonville-based chain said Monday that the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Test Kit is available in stores and online for $19.88. Each kit contains two tests, allowing for testing twice over three days using a minimally invasive nasal swab.
The rapid antigen test delivers results within 15 minutes. Previous home test kits required samples to be sent to a lab for analysis.
BinaxNOW kits are also available at CVS and Walgreens pharmacies, according to manufacturer Abbott. They will be sent to other food, drug and mass retailers across the country over the next two weeks, Abbott said Monday.
Abbott said the self-test is identical to its professional test used nationwide since August. It detects the virus in people with or without symptoms, and can be used by anyone 15 or older. Children as young as 2 can be tested by adults.
The kit has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but is allowed under an emergency use authorization.
-- Serenah McKay
Arkansas companies
follow market down
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Monday at 599.14, down 10.46.
"U.S. stocks moved lower on Monday, a well-deserved breather after last week's record levels, as investors hope that additional first-quarter earnings and guidance continue to justify high valuations and add to a growing chorus of an economy poised to boom," said Chris Harkins, managing director at Raymond James & Associates.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.