10 minute read
Opportunity/Business
Business & Opportunity Updates
ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER
LOANS The Small Business Association (SBA) has designated COVID-19 as a qualifying event for the provision of Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) for businesses and private nonprofits in affected communities. Texas is currently working with SBA to qualify for this declaration. Additional information about Economic Injury Disaster Loans can be found here, https:// disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/Information/EIDLLoans Please submit your Economic Injury Worksheet to: TDEMPARecovery@ tdem.texas.gov BUSINESS COUNSELING Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs can discuss their business ventures and get expert advice from the SBDC staff. All information will be held in strict confidence. For a counseling sessions call (806) 745-1637. FREE PRACTICE EXAMS Study guides for tests Learna-Test, a database of practice examinations, is available at the Lubbock Public Library, 1306 9th St. Hundreds of practice examinations, including SAT, ACT and elementary, middle school and high school skills improvement tests, plus graduate entrance exams, are available.
LOW INCOME TAXPAYER CLIN-
IC The TTU School of Law operates a “FREE” Low Income Taxpayer Clinic year around to provide assistance relating to issues involving controversies with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The LITC does not assist in any criminal tax matters, or prepare tax returns. For more info call (806) 834-7972 or toll free (800) 420-8037.
President-elect Joe Biden picked California official Isabel Casillas Guzman to lead the Small Business Administration, according to people familiar with the decision. Guzman served as a deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to the administrator at the SBA during the Obama administration, and has run her own small businesses. Since April 2019 she’s been director of California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate, part of that state’s Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Before working at the SBA Guzman was a director of strategic initiatives at ProAmerica Bank, a commercial bank that serviced small and mid-sized businesses, according to her LinkedIn biography. ProAmerica was acquired by Pacific Commerce Bancorp in 2018. Guzman is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She’s the first Latina named to a cabinet-level post by Biden, adding to the diversity of a team he’s pledged would “look like America.” Her nomination will require Senate confirmation. The president-elect has already chosen three Hispanic men: Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of homeland security, Xavier Becerra as secretary of health and human services, and Miguel Cardona as secretary of education.
Hispanics' Consumer Confidence Declines in 4th Quarter
Hispanics in the United States did not end 2020 with an optimistic view of their financial situations, even as new COVID-19 vaccines are expected to help the nation recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the Hispanic Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 79.3, about six points shy of the third quarter mark, according to the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI) in FAU's College of Business. The fourth quarter number, while about the same as the general population's consumer confidence sentiment published by the University of Michigan, is nearly 22 points lower than it was a year ago before the start of the pandemic. "Hispanics may be less optimistic due to the fact that the Latino unemployment rate is higher than the overall unemployment rate in the United States," said Monica Escaleras, Ph.D., director of FAU BEPI. The fourth quarter poll found that 47 percent of Hispanics said they are better off financially today than a year ago, compared to 57 percent who felt that way during the third quarter. In addition, 62 percent of respondents said they expect to be better off financially in the next year, while 69 percent of respondents felt that way in the third quarter. The latest survey also revealed that fewer respondents feel it is a good time to buy big-ticket items, while more respondents believe the cost of living has gone up.Still, Hispanics appear confident in the long-run economic outlook, with 66 percent saying they expect it to be good in the next five years. That's up nine points from the third quarter. The poll is based on a sampling of 617 Hispanics, 18 years of age and older, from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020. The margin of error is +/- 3.95 percentage points. The survey was administered using both landlines via IVR data collection and online data collection using Dynata. Responses for the entire sample were weighted to reflect the national distribution of the Hispanic population by region, education, gender, age and income, according to latest American Community Survey data. The polling results and full cross-tabulations can be viewed at www.business.fau. edu/BEPI. (En español, p. 19)
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Health Benefits of Olive Oil
In normal times, Italians outlive Americans by an average of four years. But in the Sicani Mountain region of Sicily, marked by rolling hills covered with olive trees, the locals live past 100 at a rate more than four times greater than Italy as a whole. Sicani Mountain villagers eat a Mediterranean diet, snacking on olives and using the fruit's oil to prepare dinner. As a result, their arteries are as supple as those of people 10 years younger, researchers say. know a few shopping tricks if you want to get all the protection that EVOO offers to the centenarians of the Sicani Mountains. 1. Look for “extra virgin.” That distinction means the oil is free of flavor defects. EVOO also has the highest concentration of diseasefighting polyphenols, says Praticò. (He recommends consuming two tablespoons every day for best effect.) 2. Pick a dark bottle. Exposure to light can destroy EVOO's polyphenols. Dark glass or tins offer much better protection. For further protection, store the oil in a cool, dark place. 3. Check the bottle date. Some olive oils have a shelf life of six months; others last three years. To find the freshest oil, look for the best-before date, which is usually 18 to 24 months from when the oil was bottled. Once you open the bottle and expose the oil to oxygen, it begins to degrade. 4. Buy from California. In 2014, California began standardized testing. The impact is significant: In 2017 retail samples of unregulated EVOOs were below standard 82 percent of the time, but regulated EVOO failed only 10 percent of the time. Richard Isaacson, M.D., director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine, says he can see the difference in his practice. “I've had dozens of patients who started taking at least 1 to 2 tablespoons of EVOO daily, and it had no effect,” he says. So he switched them over to California oil. After that “their cholesterol improved.” 5. Give it a swig. The more potent an oil's flavor, the more powerful its protective effects. If you feel a slight burn in the back of your throat, it means the oil has high levels of oleocanthal, the polyphenol that's been shown to bust up Alzheimer's plaques.
Wellness/ bienestar
Mojica Taking Steps for Good Health
BY GRACIEAL VASQUEZ, INTERN FOR LATINO LUBBOCK MAGAZINE
Mona Mojica developed high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, as such, her doctor suggested she start implementing exercise into her daily lifestyle. Mojica had a family history of heart health issues. Her mother had a stroke, and her father had open-heart surgery and never fully recovered. “I kept thinking I don’t want to go that route,” so she took the first steps and begin a walking regimen of 10 miles a day, since 1980! In days of difficulties, Mojica looked at Rayna Dubose as an inspiration. Dubose was a member of the Virginia Tech University’s women’s basketball team and fell into meningitis. “She became quadriplegic," Mojica said, they had to amputate all four limbs, and now she is a motivational speaker, and she teaches basketball and coaches kids. That motivated me because I kept thinking if Rayna can do it- I got all my limbs, I can go out there and give it a shot, give it the best that I possibly can.” Mojica said the walking has helped her health tremendously and there’s no room for excuses. On days where the weather is bad, she will go to the mall and walk for miles; on days when she walks outside, she carries a stick for protection. Mojica said she does not believe that age should be an inhibitor to staying healthy. “The older one gets; they may slow down a little but don’t stop being active,” she said. “You’re capable of doing the stuff, just go out and do it, don’t be afraid to go out and walk. I keep telling my husband, the older I get I’m just going to move, move, move, I’m not going to sit down because once you sit down it's hard to get back up.” Mona has traveled to different cities to walk the 3-day, 60-mile walk for Susan G. Komen in honor of Ruthie; a sister who passed away from cancer and wanted to complete the walk in Dallas. Mojica walked this event in Dallas, Seattle, and San Francisco She and her husband Juan Mojica love sports and supporting studentathletes - especially Texas Tech sports. She proudly shared that her daughter, son, along with her husband and herself are TTU alumni. She received her undergraduate degree from Texas Woman’s University and said all the students were women, and the school had no sports at the time, so when she moved to Lubbock she was fascinated with the sports, “I fell in love with the red and black.” As a result, in 2015, they received the Distinguished Alumni Family title from Raiders Rojos. From Latino Lubbock Magazine - way to get up and get moving! (See the video news package online at www.latinolubbock.net)
COVID-19 CONTACT INFO
If you need information OBOUT COVID-19, please email: publichealth@mylubbock.us , or call Phone Number: (806) 775-2933. Visit www.latinolubbock. net for more COVID - 19 details.
Datos de contacto por COVID-19
Si necesita información, envíe un correo electrónico a publichealth@mylubbock.us o llame al número de teléfono: (806) 7752933. Visite www.latinolubbock.net para obtener más detalles de COVID-19.
Noticias de salud/ Health News
FREE COVID-19 TEST-
ING at Rodgers Park Gymnasium has started operating five days a week. This testing site, located at 3300 Auburn, will be open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. No appointment is necessary for this location. Appointments are not required for this location. For more info call the Health Department at 775.2933 and selecting option three. FREE COVID-19 TESTING at Larry Combest Clinic. This testing site, located at 301 40th Street, will be open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. No appointment is necessary. FREE COVID-19 testing site located 5502 26th St, at Lubbock Christian University. Open Mondays-Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. No appointment is necessary.
2-1-1 NON-EMERGENCY QUES-
TIONS 2-1-1 is a free help line answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which will link you to health and community services. HEALTHBEAT EQUIPMENT brings the best of the gym to the great outdoors at Buddy Holly Lake of Cesar Chavez Drive, for ages 13 to 100. The outdoor fitness equipment is available to the public and has 10 pieces of fitness equipment. This is a project of Los Hermanos Familia. FREE. FREE CLINIC at Lubbock Impact The Free Clinic holds a free doctors clinic every Wednesday at 34th Street and Boston Avenue. Registration begins at 4 PM. Patients must be 18 and older and medically uninsured to receive free medications and doctors visits. For more information, please call (806) 799-4320.
FREE SICK CHIL-
DREN'S CLINIC is a free, all-volunteer clinic that treats sick children up to age 15 at 10th Street and Avenue A. Prescriptions at the on-site pharmacy are free. Call 762-1805 for more info. FAITH BASED AA for Lubbock and the surrounding area, Thurs. from 6:30-8:00 P.M. and Sundays from 7-8 P.M. For more info call 806-793.3336.
FREE PARENTING CLASSES
Family Guidance & Outreach Center provides free anger management classes and parenting classes. For more information or to register for a class, call 747-5577. Visit us online: www.familyguidancecenterlubbock. org.
