Flooded businesses eligible for low-interest loans

Low-interest loans of up to $2 million are now available to small businesses, farms and nonprofits in Brevard and five other counties hit by heavy rains in early October, the U.S. Small Business Administration has announced.
The federal economic injury disaster loans will be provided to small businesses, agricultural cooperatives, aquaculture operations, and most private non-profit groups in Florida harmed by excessive rain, flooding and high winds that hit the region Oct. 7-9, 2011.
The five other eligible counties are Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Osceola and Saint Lucie.
“When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to eligible entities affected by the same disaster,” Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta, said in a release.
Under the declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related operations that suffered financial losses as a direct result of the disaster. With the exception of aquaculture, SBA can’t provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers, SBA said in the release.
The loans can be up to $2 million with interest rates of 3 percent for private non-profit groups and 4 percent for small businesses, with terms up to 30 years. The SBA determines eligibility based on the size of the applicant, type of activity and its financial resources.
The SBA determines the loan amounts and terms and are based on each applicant’s financial condition. The 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 happened. But they aren’t intended to replace lost sales or profits.
Completed loan applications must be returned to SBA no later than October 9, 2012.
Contact Waymer at 321-242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com

How to apply

U.S. Small Business Administration loans available for those affected by Oct. 7-9 heavy weather:
For information, call 1-800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
Loan applications can be downloaded from www.sba.gov.
Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
You can also apply for disaster loans electronically from SBA’s website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.
Completed loan applications must be returned to SBA no later than Oct. 9, 2012.
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