Jan. deadline for small business disaster loans

By: Staff Report | Jackson County Floridan
Published: January 01, 2010

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced Tuesday that the filing deadline for Economic Injury Disaster Loans is Jan. 28.
They are available to all small businesses in Jackson County affected by the severe storms, flooding and tornadoes that occurred March 26 through May 5 in 2009.
Small businesses and most private non-profit organizations in the following neighboring counties are also eligible to apply : Alachua, Bay, Calhoun, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Suwannee, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton and Washington in Florida, and the contiguous counties of Covington, Escambia, Geneva and Houston in Alabama, and Brooks, Echols, Grady, Lowndes, Seminole and Thomas in Georgia.
According to a press release from SBA, loans are available up to $2 million for eligible entities that suffered substantial economic injury from the disaster.
These working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred.
However, SBA cited in the release that these loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits.
The interest rate is 4 percent, with a maximum term of 30 years.
The SBA will be the ones to determine the amount of economic injury and the terms of each loan based on the financial circumstances of the borrower.
Eligibility for the program is based on the size and type of business, and its financial resources.
To obtain a loan application, interested business owners should contact the SBA’s Customer Service Center by calling 1-800-659-2955 or by sending an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
Business disaster loan applications can also be downloaded from www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.
Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.