• Posts by John F. Nobbs
    Partner

    John Nobbs is an attorney in the Southpointe, Pennsylvania office of Bowles Rice. His broad business-focuses practice helps closely held businesses during their entire life cycle, including from start-up to wind-down. 

    John ...

Adapting Annual Shareholder and Director Meetings for Privately Held Corporations in the COVID-19 Environment

Until 2020, planning and conducting annual shareholder and director meetings were fairly straightforward affairs for corporations.  Now, with ongoing governmental regulations, “social distancing,” and health and safety concerns arising from the spread of COVID-19, the management of small and medium sized privately held corporations would be wise to consider how they plan and conduct their annual meetings in 2021 and perhaps in the future.  In doing so, they will be following in the footsteps of the vast majority of publicly traded companies that moved swiftly in 2020 to ...

New Proposed PPP Questionnaires Will Seek Loan Justification from Borrowers of $2M or More

The Small Business Administration (SBA) appears to be making good on guidance announced in April and May 2020, that it would be reviewing on a more detailed basis all Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans in excess of $2 million. On October 26, 2020, the SBA quietly revealed in the Federal Register its proposal to use a new Form 3509 (Loan Necessity Questionnaire for For-Profit Borrowers) and a new Form 3510 (Loan Necessity Questionnaire for Non-Profit Borrowers) to scrutinize these larger PPP loans, and sought a thirty (30) day comment period. The SBA has not officially published ...

Utility-Scale Solar Projects Accelerating Rapidly in West Virginia

The Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) granted a solar siting certificate to Raleigh Solar I, LLC, for a $90 million, 90-megawatt solar farm in Raleigh County on October 5, 2020.  The PSC’s order is the culmination of steps taken by the Legislature and the PSC to make West Virginia a competitively attractive location for utility-scale solar development.

During the 2020 Legislative Session, Mike Graney, the Executive Director of the West Virginia Development Office, testified to the State Senate that the inability of companies to fuel plants with solar power in the ...

West Virginia Economy Looks to TourismĀ 

West Virginia has long been known as Wild and Wonderful and Almost Heaven. This rings true not only to her residents, but also to the many visitors who travel through the Mountain State each year. Just last year, 65.5 million visitors traveled through our state. These visitors racked up $4.6 billion in traveler spending and participated in 16.5 million overnight trips and 49 million day trips.

Unfortunately, it seems like those travel statistics come for a time long ago as the COVID-19 pandemic has left our hospitality and tourism industries without guests, visitors and customers for a ...

Re-Opening for Business

When I first envisioned opening a restaurant in downtown Charleston, my primary focus was simple:  an establishment with great food and stellar service that was open every day of the year.  I literally wanted to build the type of place that I wanted to hang out in.  I am so grateful that since Adelphia Sports Bar & Grille opened in May of 2011, that vison has come true.  We have grown into a downtown destination for families, friends and tourists to congregate, grab a bite and have a cold beverage while watching their favorite sporting events. 

Obviously, there are always obstacles to running any ...