---
title: "This Week In Franchise News: 3/26/2021"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/2cfd95a6-a277-4e0f-a888-29c33bd9814d
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/this-week-in-franchise-news-3262021-2715349
category: "Franchise Industry"
industry: "Franchise Industry"
published: 2021-03-26T20:15:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:26:11.519Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/f091518c404a0daae19d744d802eea1d9376.jpg
---

# This Week In Franchise News: 3/26/2021

**TL;DR:** The PPP Extension Act has been extended by two months to provide forgivable loans to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A new documentary, The Last Blockbuster, details the decline of the video rental franchise from 9,000 to one store.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2021-03-26. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/this-week-in-franchise-news-3262021-2715349).*

## Story

*The program, which provides forgivable loans to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been extended by two months due to nearly 200,000 applications still pending.*

*The Ever Given incident has blocked one of the world's busiest trade routes, showing us just how fragile the global shipping industry is.*

*Businesses across several industries are finding creative incentives to boost vaccination rates and bring the economy one step closer to normalcy.*

*A new documentary, The Last Blockbuster, details how the video rental franchise went from 9,000 brick-and-mortar stores to just one.*

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Franchise Industry (sector)
- covid-19 pandemic (topic)
- COVID-19 (regulator)
- Suez Canal (location)
- global shipping (topic)
- vaccination rates (topic)
- ppp extension (topic)
- PPP Extension Act (regulator)
- blockbuster documentary (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/this-week-in-franchise-news-3262021-2715349). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/2cfd95a6-a277-4e0f-a888-29c33bd9814d).